Schoharie County NYGenWeb Site

Poem in memory of Margretha L. Gates

The Unreturning Dead
November 1914

[Lines sent by Mrs. William Gates in memory of her daughter, Margretha L. Gates, who died in the Albany Hospital Nov. 24th, 1914 ] 

They say if our beloved dead
     Should seek the old familiar place,
Some stranger would be there instead,
     And they would find no welcome face.

I cannot tell how it might be,
     In other homes, but this I know—
Could my lost darling come to me
     That she would never find it so.

Ofttimes the flowers have come and gone,
     Ofttimes the winter winds have blown;
The while her peaceful rest went on,
     And I have learned to live alone.

Have slowly learned from day to day
     In all my tasks to bear my part,
But whether grave or whether gay
     I hide her memory in my heart.

Fond, faithful love has blessed my way,
     And friends are round me, true and tried ;
They have their place, but hers to day
     Is empty as the day she died.

How would I spring with bated breath,
     And joy too deep for word or sign,
To take my darling home from death
     And once again to call her mine.

I dare not dream the blissful dream,
     It tills my heart with wild unrest ;
Where yonder cold, white marbles gleam,
     She still must slumber. God knows best.

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