Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Jeanne & Don's Last Hurrah






“You know how little time we have to stay,
“And, once departed, may return no more.”

Ah, my Beloved, fill the Cup that clears
Today of past Regrets and future fears....

Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,
Before we too into the Dust descend;

Dust into Dust, and under Dust, to lie,
Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer, and - sans End!..

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit

Shall lure it back to cancel half a line
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

[From the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, translated by R Burton]
In Latin America, the McGirks used to read the Rubaiyat aloud to one another


Music at their Wake : Kelly Cuffe vocals, with Ukelele and Acoustic Guitar
  • I am a Pilgrim
  • I'll Fly Away
  • By the Rivers of Babylon
  • Amazing Grace
  • Bye Bye Blackbird
  • Somewhere Over the Rainbow/Wonderful Life

Eulogies: Suzanne Semmes, Regis McCann, Mike Parsons, James McGirk, Sean McGirk

1 comment:

  1. Do not stand at my grave and weep.
    I am not there.
    I do not sleep.
    I am a thousand winds that blow.
    I am the diamond glint on the snow.
    I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
    I am the autumn rain.
    When you awake in the morning hush,
    I am the swift uplifting rush
    of birds circling in flight
    I am the stars that shine at night.
    Do not stand on my grave and weep.
    I am not there.
    I do not sleep.

    'Tis all a Chequer-board of Nights and Days
    Where Destiny with Men for Pieces plays:
    Hither and thither moves, and mates, and slays,
    And one by one back in the Closet lays.

    Omar Khayyam: 49 (Robert Fitzgerald)

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