We sailed on the 12th of April, reaching New York on the 14th, as he had planned. A day or two later, Mr. and Mrs. Gabrilowitsch, summoned from Italy by cable, arrived. He suffered very little after reaching Stormfield, and his mind was comparatively clear up to the last day. On the afternoon of April 21st he sank into a state of coma, and just at sunset he died. Three days later, at Elmira, New York, he was laid beside Mrs. Clemens and those others who had preceded him.
The last day at Stormfield
By Bliss Carman.
At
Redding, Connecticut,
The
April sunrise pours
Over
the hardwood ridges
Softening
and greening now
In
the first magic of Spring.
The
wild cherry-trees are in bloom,
The
bloodroot is white underfoot,
The
serene early light flows on,
Touching
with glory the world,
And
flooding the large upper room
Where
a sick man sleeps.
Slowly
he opens his eyes,
After
long weariness, smiles,
And
stretches arms overhead,
While
those about him take heart.
With
his awakening strength,
(Morning
and spring in the air,
The
strong clean scents of earth,
The
call of the golden shaft,
Ringing
across the hills)
He
takes up his heartening book,
Opens
the volume and reads,
A
page of old rugged Carlyle,
The
dour philosopher
Who
looked askance upon life,
Lurid,
ironical, grim,
Yet
sound at the core.
But
weariness returns;
He
lays the book aside
With
his glasses upon the bed,
And
gladly sleeps. Sleep,
Blessed
abundant sleep,
Is
all that he needs.
And
when the close of day
Reddens
upon the hills
And
washes the room with rose,
In
the twilight hush
The
Summoner comes to him
Ever
so gently, unseen,
Touches
him on the shoulder;
And
with the departing sun
Our
great funning friend is gone.