Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ALEXANDRIAN SONGS: 2, by MIKHAIL ALEXEYEVICH KUZMIN Poet's Biography First Line: Dying is sweet Last Line: And flutes be heard from afar. Subject(s): Death; Heroism; Memory; Soldiers; War; Dead, The; Heroes; Heroines | ||||||||
Dying is sweet On the battle-field In the hissing of arrows and spears, When the trumpet sounds And the sun of noon Is shining, Dying for country's glory And hearing around you: "Hero, farewell!" Dying is sweet For an old, venerable man In the house On the bed Where your forebears were born,where they died, Surrounded by children Grown men, And hearing around you: "Father, farewell!" But sweeter, Wiser, Having spent the last penny, Having sold the last mill For a woman Who the next day is forgotten, Having come From a gay promenade To the sold, dismantled mansion To sup, And to read the tale of Apuleius: The hundred and first reading, In the warm, fragrant bath, Hearing no farewell, To open your veins; And through the long skylight Must come the scent of stock-gilliflower; Dawn must be glowing, And flutes be heard from afar. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CONFESSION OF ST. JIM-RALPH by DENIS JOHNSON NOTES FOR AN ELEGY by WILLIAM MEREDITH THE EROTICS OF HISTORY by EAVAN BOLAND A SONG FOR HEROES by EDWIN MARKHAM AFTER THE BROKEN ARM by RON PADGETT PRELUDE; FOR GEOFFREY GORER by EDITH SITWELL EXAMINATION OF THE HERO IN A TIME OF WAR by WALLACE STEVENS NIGHT WAS DONE by MIKHAIL ALEXEYEVICH KUZMIN |
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