Beverley B. Munford (1856–1910)

Beverley Bland Munford was James Branch Cabell's much-beloved uncle (the husband of his mother's sister); when Munford died, Cabell wrote this verse in his memory:

Most blithe and sage and gentle, and most brave!
O true clear heart, so quick to wake and war
Against despondency, lest questioning mar
One hour of living, or foiled hopes enslave
And sour another's living! not to the grave
Did we relinquish you, whose mourners were
As mariners that mark, with hushed demur,
Night's lordliest star sink in the insatiate wave,
And so elude us, only to arise
Elsewhere, with equal lustre even as thus
Today, unfearingly, in Paradise,
And near the inmost court of Heaven s house,
A gentleman to God lifts those brave eyes
Which yesterday made life more brave for us.