Ambition, and Other Poems/The Blest

The Blest
The Vision came, all grey and cold,And cast his shadow on my bed—But I could live a thousand years,And never wish that I were dead.'You do not know,' said Death, to me,'How many men have called me "Blest";The millions that have squeezed my handIn gratitude for peace and rest;When they are old, and no one wants them,They lie their heads upon my breast.'And he looked so gentle and kind,And his voice came so soft to my ear,That I gave him a cherry to eat,And the dew on its skin was a tear.