Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, WHEN I AM DEAD, by JOHN RICHARD MORELAND



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHEN I AM DEAD, by                    
First Line: When I am dead
Last Line: Of a viking!
Subject(s): Death; Farewell; Vikings; Dead, The; Parting


When I am dead
Robe not my dust in raven raiment
Bitter with the tears of the sweat-shop.

Neither give it a pall
Of black loam six feet thick
Embroidered with white worms,
And creeping things unspeakable.

Nor would I have
A mantle of cold stone
On which snails will write my epitaph
In silver slime.

Through white fires of anguish
Came I to this kind land of kisses;
Through opalescent flames would I go
Seeking that strange country
Of love, youth and endless beauty.

Comrade am I of the dune and sea,
Friend am I of the cloud and rain,
Brother am I of the hills and trees,
Lover am I of the sun's gold flame!

When I am dead --
Give me a shroud of crimson blaze,
And a sepulchre of blue sea . . .
Bid me bon voyage!
And let me go the way
Of a viking!





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