Amy Lowell

Epitaph in a Church-Yard in Charleston, South Carolina

GEORGE  AUGUSTUS  CLOUGH
A NATIVE OF LIVERPOOL,
DIED SUDDENLY OF ”STRANGER’S FEVER”
NOV’R 5th 1843
AGED 22

He died of ”Stranger’s Fever” when his youth
Had scarcely melted into manhood, so
The chiselled legend runs; a brother’s woe
Laid bare for epitaph.  The savage ruth
Of a sunny, bright, but alien land, uncouth
With cruel caressing dealt a mortal blow,
And by this summer sea where flowers grow
In tropic splendor, witness to the truth
Of ineradicable race he lies.
The law of duty urged that he should roam,
Should sail from fog and chilly airs to skies
Clear with deceitful welcome.  He had come
With proud resolve, but still his lonely eyes
Ached with fatigue at never seeing home.