Classic and Contemporary Poetry
EPITAPH ON ONE DROWNED IN THE SNOW, by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Within a fleece of silent waters drown'd Last Line: My last shall give me back to life agen. Alternate Author Name(s): Browne, William Of Tavistock Subject(s): Drowning; Epitaphs; Snow | ||||||||
WITHIN a fleece of silent waters drown'd, Before I met with death a grave I found; That which exil'd my life from her sweet home, For grief straight froze itself into a tomb. One only element my fate thought meet To be my death, grave, tomb, and winding-sheet; Phœbus himself my epitaph had writ; But blotting many, ere he thought one fit, He wrote until my tomb and grave were gone, And 'twas an epitaph, that I had none; For every man that pass'd along the way Without a sculpture read that there I lay. Here now, the second time, entomb'd I lie, And thus much have the best of destiny: Corruption, from which only one was free, Devour'd my grave, but did not feed on me, My first grave took me from the race of men; My last shall give me back to life agen. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BRIGHT SUN AFTER HEAVY SNOW by JANE KENYON SNOW FALLING THROUGH FOG by WILLIAM MATTHEWS THE SNOW FAIRY by CLAUDE MCKAY NOT ONLY ESKIMOS by LISEL MUELLER EPITAPH: IN OBITUM M.S. XO MAIJ, 1614 by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |
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