Esther is on her last legs, and she is enjoying quoting her poems for anyone that visits her. I have heard the same poems many, many times now, but it's still a delight to watch the faces of others as she quotes them a poem from memory that they have not heard before. Here is one of her favorites:
The last stanza from "Thanatopsis" (View on Death in Greek)by William Cullen Bryant
So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan which moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,
Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed
By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch so
About him and lies down to pleasant dreams.
A hospice volunteer, Melody, came to spend an hour with Esther and was so moved by the poetry that the next time she came to see her she told her that from now on she was going to view the work she did with patients differently and incorporate some of the poetry into what she does. Esther had a profound effect on her. She even came back with her teenage daughter so she could meet her.
That was a nice plus for Esther, to be appreciated.
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