"Multās per gentēs et multa per aequora vectus
adveniō hās miserās, frāter, ad īnferiās,
ut tē postrēmō dōnārem mūnere mortis
et mūtam nēquīquam alloquerer cinerem.
quandoquidem fortūna mihī tētē abstulit ipsum.
heu miser indignē frāter adēmpte mihi,
nunc tamen intereā haec, prīscō quae mōre parentum
trādita sunt trīstī mūnere ad īnferiās,
accipe frāternō multum mānantia flētū,
atque in perpetuum, frāter, avē atque valē."
~Catullus, Poem 101
Carried through many lands and seas
I come to these miserable funeral rites, brother
So that I may give last tribute to you in death
And address these silent ashes in vain.
Since fate has stolen you yourself away from me,
Oh poor brother, taken undeservedly,
Nevertheless now, accept these offerings, passed through generations by custom,
As the sad tribute for a funeral sacrifice.
Accept them wet with a brother's many years,
and into eternity brother, hail and farewell
I have spent a sleepless night struck by the news of Senator Kennedy's passing. In these last hours, I reflected on two particular eulogies- one delivered by Senator Edward Kennedy in memorial of his slain brother Robert Kennedy, the other a set of unscripted remarks made by that same brother following the assassination of Martin Luther King. The latter brother journeyed to Indianapolis, rejecting his aides' admonitions and police officers' fear for his safety, to make an appeal for unity to a crowd unaware of the civil rights leader's fate. Invoking the death of his brother while calling for understanding, Kennedy quoted the poet Aeschylus: "Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God." That night as cities across America raged, Indianapolis was quiet.
Two months later Senator Edward Kennedy would eulogize his martyred brother. He spoke:
My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.
Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.
This is, I think, how Senator Kennedy would have himself remembered- not the lion of the Senate, but as a life dedicated to healing the wounds of a torn nation. In memorial, rather than mourning Edward Kennedy, let us "pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world." There is no need to idealize or enlarge the mythos of his person, because it is his goodness and belief in justice that stand as exemplars to the righteous in all walks of life.
Yet it is also appropriate now to remember Senator Kennedy as a brother- as a father, as a son. Indeed, he was the last brother of a family that exemplified duty and sacrifice for fairness, equality and service. Edward Kennedy was the liberal lion, champion of the Senate, and an ally to those who would oppose injustice. We need not shy away from the grief felt at the passing of such a man. Offering tribute whetted by tears for a brother (the tears many of us now shed), we can hope in time to find that wisdom of which Aeschylus spoke.
May our love herald you gently into eternity. Yours has been a compass that will always point towards what is good and decent.
"atque in perpetuum, frāter, avē atque valē."