by William Lewin

Death is not tragedy; the valiant years
Die but to be reborn when fragrant spring
Follows the dreary winter; autumn days
Cool the hot summer with September winds;
Blithe on the heels of blustering March and April
Steeped in showers, lo! the tonic May
Eternally arrives. About to die,
We see ourselves reborn; the wrinkled sire
Lives in his blooming grandchild once again;
So lives the teacher amid youth reborn
That rank on rank interminably moves on
Toward structures of a transcendental day.

Stark tragedy is in that living death
Which knows not freedom, happiness, and truth
With joy of work in tune with sun and stars.

Margaret Coult was the long-time head of Barringer High School’s English department. Louis Ginsberg was one of thousands of Newarkers introduced to poetry through her teaching.

Another of Coult’s students, William Lewin taught English at Central High School when this tribute to Coult appeared in the Newark Evening News of June 26, 1930, a few days after her death.