Verse Three

“Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see.
All of your fears will pass away.
Safe in my arms,
Your only sleeping.“

“Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?”

This is exactly along the lines of what just about anyone would say to a dying person. Don’t cry; you don’t have to cry; you shouldn’t cry; please don’t cry. What else can you say?

The exact words appear to be a gentle chiding, almost like a parent teasing their child for letting their fear of the Boogie Monster get the better of them.

“Soon you will see.
All of your fears will pass away.”

“Soon you will see.” See what? All of your fears proving irrelevant or unfounded of course. No more Boogie Monster (fear of death, war, a life of war, dying in war).

“Safe in my arms,
Your only sleeping.”

After being fatally wounded in battle the last thing I would want would to be left to die alone. I would want my Mom or Dad, brother, sister, friend, or even a stranger there to comfort me.

If I were comforting someone who fatally wounded and was going to die in a few hours or minutes and was displaying a fear of death, the last thing I would say to them is “you’re going to die.” I’d lie through my teeth until they died or insisted I tell them the brutal truth; then I would try to say it without really saying it.