Today I bring you another little cameo by T.S. Eliot.
AUNT HELEN
Miss Helen Slingsby was my maiden aunt,
And lived in a small house near a fashionable square
Cared for by servants to the number of four.
Now when she died there was silence in heaven
And silence at her end of the street.
The shutters were drawn and the undertaker wiped his feet
He was aware that this sort of thing had occurred before.
The dogs were handsomely provided for,
But shortly afterwards the parrot died too.
The Dresden clock continued ticking on the mantelpiece,
And the footman sat upon the dining-table
Holding the second housemaid on his knees
Who had always been so careful while her mistress lived.
T. S. Eliot
P.S. I note that I first posted this poem here in May 2006, but I had quite forgotten.
Grandmother died when I was alone with her. Doctor had been and gone. Neighbor had been and gone. She died quietly as I watched over her.
And the clock kept ticking in the silent room. And next day her Pomeranian was 'put to sleep' according to her directions. Also, next day, relatives were going through her chest of drawers and all throughout the house. Those 'who had always been so careful' helped themselves.
Nobody wound up the clock on the mantel, between the two dogs with golden chains - but it still went on ticking in the empty room.