Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN FUTURO, by THEOPHILE GAUTIER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN FUTURO, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: E'en now, from mountain or from plain
Last Line: My heart shall mingle with the clod.
Alternate Author Name(s): Theo, Le Bon
Subject(s): Coffins; Death; Future; Graves; Dead, The; Tombs; Tombstones


E'en now, from mountain or from plain,
In France, America or Spain,
A tree is soaring, oak or pine,
Of which some portion shall be mine.

E'en now within her chamber lone
Some wrinkled and decrepit crone
Weaves fair white linen, like a Fate,
To clothe my body soon or late.

E'en now, for me, with sunless toil.
Like some blind mole beneath the soil,
A swarthy miner doth explore
Earth's teeming veins for iron ore.

There is some corner of the earth
Where nought but loveliness hath birth,
Where sunbeams drink the tears of morn,
There I shall sleep in days unborn.

That tree which with its foliage now
Doth screen a nest on every bough,
The planks hereafter shall supply
Wherein my coffined bones shall lie.

That linen, which the wrinkled crone
Is weaving in her chamber lone,
Shall form a winding sheet to hold
My lifeless body in its fold.

That iron, burrowed from the soil
By the swart miner's sunless toil,
Transformed to nails, shall tightly close
The chest wherein my limbs repose;

And in that charming spot on earth
Where nought but loveliness hath birth,
A grave shall yawn, beneath whose sod
My heart shall mingle with the clod.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net