The Death Of Leah Poem by Martin Greyford

Will the day ever come when beauty
And knowledge,
Ingenuity and virtue
And weakness of body and strength
Of spirit will be united in a woman?

I am one of those who believe that
Spiritual progress is a rule of human life,
But the approach to perfection is slow and painful.

Spring departed,
So did summer and autumn,
But my love for Leah increased day by day
Until it became a kind of mute worship,
The feeling that an orphan has
Towards the soul of his mother in heaven.

My yearning was converted to blind sorrow
That could see nothing but itself.
And the passion that drew tears from
My eyes was replaced by perplexity that
Sucked the blood from my heart.
And my sighs of affection became a constant prayer.

Why do I occupy these pages with words
About the betrays of poor nations instead
Of reserving all the space for the story of a
Miserable woman with a broken heart?

Why do I shed tears for oppressed people
Rather than keep all my tears for the memory
Of a weak woman whose life was
Snatched by the teeth of death?

Don't you believe that thwarted love which
Leads a woman to the grave is like
The despair which pervades the people of the earth?
A woman is to a nation as light is to a lamp.
Will out the light be dim if
The oil in the lamp is low?

Autumn passed.
And the wind blew the yellow
leaves from the trees,
Making way for winter,
Which came howling and crying.

At midnight Leah opened her tired eyes
For the last time and focused them on me.
She tried to speak,
But could not,
For death had already choked her voice,
But she finally managed to say;
'The night has passed...
Oh, Martin.. Oh.. Oh, Martin.'
Then she bent her head,
Her face turned white,
And I could see a smile on her lips
As she breathed her last.

I was lost in sorrow and revere for my love.
Days passed and nights preyed upon me as the
Eagle ravages its victim.
I froze to death as
I embraced her dead body.

Leah died,
Her soul was embraced by eternity,
And her body was returned to the earth.