Cemetery trees shiver
in the snowy breeze,
and cover the graves
with their dead leaves.

Tombstones and bones
lying in the shallow earth,
remind the living that
it could always be worse.

1692

The right to perish might be thought
An undisputed right—
Attempt it, and the Universe
Upon the opposite
Will concentrate its officers—
You cannot even die
But nature and mankind must pause
To pay you scrutiny.