Here comes some sing-song psychopomp,
Shepherding all those stone-cold souls.
He sings stirring songs all day long,
Dragging the Dead over dark shoals.
Psychopomp Shanties [Lyric Poem]
Reply
Thou wast that all to me, love,
For which my soul did pine --
A green isle in the sea, love,
A fountain and a shrine,
All wreathed with fairy fruits and flowers,
And all the flowers were mine.
Ah, dream to bright to last!
Ah, starry Hope! that didst arise
But to be overcast!
A voice from the Future cries,
"On! on!" -- but o'er the Past
(Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies
Mute, motionless, aghast!
For, alas! alas! with me
The light of Life is o'er!
No more -- no more -- no more --
(Such language holds the solemn sea
To the sands upon the shore)
Shall bloom the thunder-blasted tree,
Or the stricken eagle soar!
And all my days are trances,
And all my nightly dreams
Are where thy grey eye glances,
And where thy footstep gleams --
In what ethereal dances,
By what eternal streams.
My soul runs cold, and I
Fear it might be dying.
It rises into the sky --
Horrifyingly flying.
How'd it achieve liftoff,
And race to such a pace?
It started to just drift off...
Now: the cold vacuum of space.
Dare I hope for a snap back
When it reaches tether-end?
Or intergalactic bushwhack,
Stumbling lost with no descent.
Maybe, it'll sprawl on forever
To the universe's edge.
I might not be so clever,
But I'll be a universe full-fledged.

Oh, no, no! Don’t you get your gun.
It’s not that kind of wicked fun.
It’s just that rough and tumble stuff
Where one can say, “Enough ‘s enough!”
And go your separate ways, knowing
That the fight is still ongoing,
And it’ll never really be done
‘Cause it’d never truly begun.
Row me into nowhere --
The middle of the sea --
To drift without a care
As waves roll under me.
Row me into nowhere,
That vacant stretch of sea,
To watch blue skies, so fair,
For an eternity.
Row me into nowhere;
I'll bob upon the waves.
Let me make it my lair:
Free of rascals and knaves.
Row me into nowhere
When all the good are gone;
I'll breathe that salty air
Until my soul moves on.