Canto L
Do we indeed desire the deadShould still be near us at our side?Is there no baseness we would hide?No inner vileness that we dread?
Shall he for whose applause I strove,I had such reverence for his blame,See with clear eye some hidden shameAnd I be lessen’d in his love?
I wrong the grave with fears untrue:Shall love be blamed for want of faith?There must be wisdom with great Death:The dead shall look me thro’ and thro’.
Be near us when we climb or fall:Ye watch, like God, the rolling hoursWith larger other eyes than ours,To make allowance for us all.