My place with them will be

This will have to be the final entry  in the "going backwards through the Poets Laureate" series - I can't get any further back (from within my poetry collection) than the tenth Laureate!

Thus - below is a poem from Robert Southey, who was (the tenth) Poet Laureate from 1813 to 1843 ...

... and, overall therefore, I've managed 12 Laureates out of 21 : not too bad ;-)

This poem is as taken from the pictured, 2005, reprinted collection:


My Days among the Dead are Past

My days among the Dead are past;
    Around me I behold,
Where'er these casual eyes are cast,
    The mighty minds of old;
My never-failing friends are they,
With whom I converse day by day.

With them I take delight in weal,
    And seek relief in woe;
And while I understand and feel
    How much to them I owe,
My cheeks have often been bedew'd
With tears of thoughtful gratitude.

My thoughts are with the Dead, with them
    I live in long-past years,
Their virtues love, their faults condemn,
    Partake their hopes and fears,
And from their lessons seek and find
Instruction with an humble mind.

My hopes are with the Dead, anon
    My place with them will be,
And I with them shall travel on
    Through all Futurity;
Yet leaving here a name, I trust,
That will not perish in the dust.

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Robert Southey (1774 - 1843)

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