Richard Wilbur - The Pardon lyrics

My dog lay dead five days without a grave In the thick of summer, hid in a clump of pine And a jungle of gra** and honey-s**le vine. I who had loved him while he kept alive Went only close enough to where he was To sniff the heavy honeys**le-smell Twined with another odor heavier still And hear the flies' intolerable buzz. Well, I was ten and very much afraid. In my kind world the dead were out of range And I could not forgive the sad or strange In beast or man. My father took the spade And buried him. Last night I saw the gra** Slowly divide (it was the same scene But now it glowed a fierce and mortal green) And saw the dog emerging. I confess I felt afraid again, but still he came In the carnal sun, clothed in a hymn of flies, And d**h was breeding in his lively eyes. I started in to cry and call his name, Asking forgiveness of his tongueless head. ..I dreamt the past was never past redeeming: But whether this was false or honest dreaming I beg d**h's pardon now. And mourn the dead.