And how shall I deck my song for the large sweet soul that has gone?
And what shall my perfume be, for the grave of him I love?
Sea-winds, blown from east and west,
Blown from the eastern sea, and blown from the western sea, till there on the prairies meeting:
These, and with these, and the breath of my chant,
I perfume the grave of him I love.
- Elaborate passage in which appropriate flowers are brought to deck the hearse
- Examples include "And how shall I deck my song for the large sweet soul that has gone?" and "And what shall my perfume be, for the grace of him I love?"
Connotation: The speaker cannot soothe himself after the death of Lincoln; there is not cure for that except time
Attitude: confusion, dissatisfaction
Shifts: For the first three lines, the stanza has an additude of confusion. For the last four lines, the speaker has a tone of dissatisfactin
Theme: Time is the only medication to cure someone of a broken heart