Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DEATH, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DEATH, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lo, I am dying! And to feel the
Last Line: Soh, bless me! I am dead!
Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F.
Subject(s): Death; Life; Love; Soul; Dead, The


LO, I am dying! And to feel the King
Of Terrors fasten on me, steeps all sense
Of life, and love, and loss, and everything,
In such deep calms of restful indolence,
His keenest fangs of pain are sweet to me
As fused kisses of mad lovers' lips
When, flung shut-eyed in spasmed eclipse,
And so thank God with ever-tightening lids!
But what I see, the soul of me forbids
All utterance of; and what I hear and feel,
The rattle in my throat could ill reveal
Though it were music to your ears as to
Mine own. -- Press closer -- closer -- I have grown
So great, your puny arms about me thrown
Seem powerless to hold me here with you; --
I slip away -- I waver -- and -- I fall --
Christ! What a plunge! Where am I dropping? All
My breath bursts into dust -- I can not cry --
I whirl -- I reel and veer up overhead.
And drop flat-faced against -- against -- the sky --
Soh, bless me! I am dead!





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