3. Today, A Dirge
Need I say more?
I need not, but I think I will.
Abraham Lincoln (O Captain, my Captain) loved opera. His favorite one was Flotow’s “Martha.” He loved it so very much that he had it staged for his inauguration. So, on this day, so full of precedence and history, I give you the song Lincoln longed to hear and that soothed his heart, “The Last Rose Of Summer” from “Martha.”
May it soothe yours.
‘Tis the last rose of summer left blooming alone
All her lovely companions are faded and gone
No flower of her kindred, no rosebud is nigh
To reflect back her blushes and give sigh for sigh
I’ll not leave thee, thou lone one, to pine on the stem
Since the lovely are sleeping, go sleep thou with them
Thus kindly I scatter thy leaves o’er the bed
Where thy mates of the garden lie scentless and dead
So soon may I follow when friendships decay
And from love’s shining circle the gems drop away
When true hearts lie withered and fond ones are flown
Oh who would inhabit this bleak world alone?
– Thomas Moore