"When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd, And the great star
   early droop'd in the western sky in the night, I mourn'd, and
   yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring."

In the context of the whole work, it doesn't matter where the door is.
Whitman wrote the poem was written to mourn the death of Abraham Lincoln.
Hindemith set it to mourn the death of Franklin Roosevelt.  It's a lovely
elegaic piece, currently attracting a lot of interest.

Anne Ozorio <[log in to unmask]>