Classic and Contemporary Poetry
FRIENDS, by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES Poet Analysis First Line: They're creeping on the stairs outside Last Line: And less when I am dying. Alternate Author Name(s): Davies, W. H. Subject(s): Death; Friendship; Dead, The | ||||||||
They're creeping on the stairs outside, They're whispering soft and low; Now up, now down, I hear his friends, And still they come and go. The sweat that runs my side, from that Hot pit beneath my shoulder, Is not so cold as he will be, Before the night's much older. My fire I feed with naked hands, No sound shall reach their ears; I'm moving like the careful cat, That stalks a rat it fears. And as his friends still come and go, A thoughtful head is mine: Had Life as many friends as Death, Lord, how this world would shine! And since I'll have so many friends, When on my death-bed lying -- I wish my life had more love now, And less when I am dying. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND A BIRD'S ANGER by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES |
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