Elegy

This winter I find myself kept indoors more than usual for this time of year, and so I have been looking at old books I've collected but not really read.

The poem below comes from a 1937 hardback anthology I have titled "Three TONY'S SCRAPBOOKS", a gathering of tidbits of philosophy, poetry, humor and trivia by folksy Depression-era radio personality Tony Wons. It collects three previous volumes that sold well. You can learn more about Tony Wons from a 1932 TIME magazine article that is archived here.

I can find no information on the author of the poem, Leonard Snyder, who most likely wasn't an acclaimed writer in any genre. Ordinary fans of the radio show sent in their thoughts and writings, and Wons used them sometimes. Perhaps Snyder was one of them.

I've chosen images found on the net (credited below) to illustrate the poem. It's a simple poem, reminiscent of Poe but without his brilliance. Still, I liked it and share it here.
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ELEGY

I have looked at dead men's eyes

Whose awful majesty

Held nothing, yet I saw therein

An endless mystery.



A dead man's lips are pale and cold

And changeless as of stone,

And yet they strangely seem to say

To find peace...go alone.

--Leonard Snyder

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Related: Johnny Metro's great freaky-geeky blog Midnite Media recently posted the words to the an old dark English ballad titled "The Unquiet Grave." Read it here.

Top image: Statuary closeup found at Flickr account of Sandman1973.

Image second from top: Plasticized, skinned body from the BODIES exhibition--Picture source here.

Image, bottom left: Mexican mummy, picture source here.

Image, bottom right: Detail of statuary photo found at Flickr account of martins.nunomiguel