LETTERS : In memoriam

From The Rev Michael Dunk Sir: The decision to leave the Estonia, with its 800 bodies at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, was undoubtedly a hard one for the governments of Sweden and Estonia to take. Common sense prevailed, the emotional needs of families and friends took second place. For the bereaved, without a body to say a final farewell to, the process of grieving may prove difficult to work through.

My wife and I were on the penultimate voyage of the Estonia and we vividly recall the boat, with its crew and passengers now lying 23 miles away from the nearest shore. I met in Sweden several people who knew someone on the Estonia and the feeling of collective grief was tangible, as was the almost universal belief that it should be raised.

The mood has changed, and one can only hope and pray that those who are not happy with the decision will, with help, come to terms with their personal loss. Tennyson's loss of a close friend at sea is immortalised in his long poem In Memoriam and might be of help to those who wish their loved ones were buried on dry land.

Reute O to us, The fools of habit, sweeter seems Reute To rest beneath the clover sod, That takes the sunshine and the rains, Or where the kneeling hamlet drains, The chalice of the grapes of God; Reute Than if with thee the roaring wells Should gulf himfathom-deep in brine; And hands so often clasp'd in mine, Should toss with tangle and with shells.

Each line in the following part begins "Calm ... " May they rest in peace.

Yours faithfully, M. R. DUNK Industrial Chaplain Diocese of Birmingham Birmingham 16 December