Lines Written On the Death of my Mother

If those we loved could always be with us,
And Time unending hold us in its grip,
Though grief would cease, so too would hope and thus
All that which is worthwhile we would let slip.
If not for Death we would not yearn to live,
Or with our science map the universe,
And have no need of Art’s great narrative,
Or with the gods seek daily to converse.
And yet though Reason might embrace with Death,
And Logic prove it part of Nature’s schemes,
Now she we loved has given her last breath,
What idle consolation all that seems.
     But deep beyond poor Reason’s reach we see
     That Love endures throughout eternity.