The Dying of Pere Pierre
“… with two other priests; the same night he died,and was buried by the shores of the lake that bears his name.”Chronicle.
“Nay, grieve not that ye can no honour giveTo these poor bones that presently must beBut carrion; since I have sought to liveUpon God’s earth, as He hath guided me,I shall not lack! Where would ye have me lie?High heaven is higher than cathedral nave:Do men paint chancels fairer than the sky?”Beside the darkened lake they made his grave,Below the altar of the hills; and nightSwung incense clouds of mist in creeping linesThat twisted through the tree-trunks, where the lightGroped through the arches of the silent pines:And he, beside the lonely path he trod,Lay, tombed in splendour, in the House of God.