Coffin1 that passes through lanes and streets,
Through day and night with the great cloud darkening the
land,
With the pomp of the inloop'd flags with the cities draped in
black,
With the show of the States themselves as of crape-veil'd
women standing2,
With processions long and winding3 and the flambeaus of the
night,
With the countless4 torches lit, with the silent sea of faces and
the unbared heads,
With the waiting depot5, the arriving coffin, and the sombre
faces,
With dirges6 through the night, with the thousand voices
rising strong and solemn,
With all the mournful voices of the dirges pour'd around the
coffin,
The dim-lit churches and the shuddering7 organs - where
amid these you journey,
With the tolling8 tolling bells' perpetual clang,
Here, coffin that slowly passes,
I give you my sprig of lilac.