Sir Adam Beck Secondary School - Lacedaemon Yearbook (London, Ontario Canada)

Page 52 text:

IN MEMORIAM CRUEL WORLD Life, you gave in to your worst enemy, Death, you took a friend who knew you not, My friend . He knew not hunger, he knew not cold, He knew not sorrow nor grief; Death, he was no friend to you . You washed the smile from his face And made him see your frown of scorn, You took the laughter from his eyes And made him grasp your beckoning hand . You made him silent while you, Death, Spoke above the din . Cruel world! Death, you refused to let him be a man, To love something more than life itself, You left him with things undone And snatched him from the life he shared with us. You took him in midst of friendship, honor, triumph, You made others walk in sadness And their hearts sang of sorrow . They still walk in sadness, Seeking peace and happiness, While you look on, waiting patiently. Cruel world! Eternity, you own him now, for All the roads of this world Lead him to Heaven, and the roaming wind Will take him toward the sun . All the roads of this earth are strewn with friendship, But the eye of Death was waiting to meet him. Cruel world! All the roads of the plain disappear untiringly, In spite of joys and sorrows Toward the bright horizon. All the roads of Life ask us to hope That Death will invite us To the banquet of Eternity . John Beune O Death, if the sun and the wild wind speak to you of Liberty, If the sun and the wild wind speak to you of Life -you listen not . Cruel world ! Chin in your hands, feet in the gutter, you look at Life With envy as it dances in the streets of the suburbs, You are humming in your heart the bitter poetry That rises as you wait for yet another. In the night it is lovely To believe in the light, In the triumphant dawn, In the morning sun , To know you will be alive For within Life is forged the face of tomorrow, But within Death there is nothing but the face of Death. Cruel , harsh world ! Our mourning will change into a joyful dance, Fresh glance, out-stretched hand, Heart full of music , Toward the waiting city we will go, radiantly, To labour in the workshop of noble human efforts, But we forget him not. We remember that day you called him, That day of reunion transfigured by sorrow. By - Dani Heinen .