Old ocean\'s grey and melancholy waste,--

Are but the solemn decorations all

Of the great tomb of man. The golden sun,

The planets, all the infinite host of heaven,

Are shining on the sad abodes of death,

Through the still lapse of ages. All that tread

The globe are but a handful to the tribes

That slumber in its bosom.--Take the wings

Of morning--and the Barcan desert pierce,

Or lose thyself in the continuous woods

Where rolls the Oregan, and hears no sound,

Save his own dashings--yet--the dead are there,

And millions in those solitudes, since first

The flight of years begin, have laid them down

In their last sleep--the dead reign there alone.--

So shalt thou rest--and what if thou shalt fall

Unnoticed by the living--and no friend

Take note of thy departure? All that breathe

Will share thy destiny. The gay will laugh

When thou art gone, the solemn brood of care

Plod on, and each one as before will chase

His favorite fathom; yet all these shall leave

Their mirth and their employments, and shall come,

And make their bed with thee. As the long train

Of ages glide away, the sons of men,

The youth in life\'s green spring, and he who goes

In the full strength of years, matron, and maid,

The bow\'d with age, the infant in the smiles

And beauty of its innocent age cut off,--

Shall one by one gather to thy side,

By those, who in their turn shall follow them.

So live, that when thy summons come to join

The innumerable caravan, that moves

To the pale realms of shade, where each shall take

His chamber in the silent halls of death,

Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night,

Scourged to his dungeon, but sustain\'d and smooth\'d

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave,

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.

解析：

这首诗是一首关于死亡的诗。作者在诗中写出了他对于死亡的观点：这并不是一件可怕的事。作者用自然去安抚人们对于死亡的恐惧。山河是你的眠床，星辰是你的衣裳。你不必恐惧，所有人终究都会和你在那里相遇。那里有不知世事的孩童，有世上最有权力的国王。那里是世人最终的归属。所以人啊，不要带着恐惧入睡，你将会做一场美梦。