Read "When I Am Dead" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
When I am dead, if some chastened one, / Seeing the "item," or hearing it said / That my play is over, and my part done, / And I lie asleep in my narrow bed -- / If I could know that some soul would say, / Speaking aloud or silently, / "In the heat, and burden of the day, / She gave a refreshing draught to me;"
Or, "when I was lying nigh unto death, / She nursed me to life, and to strength again, / And when I labored and struggled for breath, / She soothed and quieted down my pain; " / Or, "when I was groping in grief and doubt, / Lost, and turned from the light o' the day, / Her hand reached me and helped me out, / And led me up to the better way."