Life contracts and death is expected,
As in a season of autumn.
The soldier falls.
He does not become a three-days personage,
Imposing his separation,
Calling for pomp.
Death is absolute and without memorial,
As in a season of autumn,
When the wind stops,
When the wind stops and over the heavens,
The clouds go, nevertheless,
In their direction.
- Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)
