He heard something as his lips broke; A bird calling -- and he never spoke. He forgot to speak; he turned his head, Better to hear what the bird said. And as he listened with his lips apart Death leaped up and touched his heart. Now we children will never hear What he found in the field, nor where. I don't grudge him the easy choice That stilled his own for the robin's voice. I've only wondered if I died next week ... Should one listen? or ought one speak? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ROUGE BOUQUET [MARCH 7, 1918] by ALFRED JOYCE KILMER ODES I, 5 by QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS OLD MOTHERS by CHARLES SARSFIELD ROSS QUATRAIN: AMONG THE PINES by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH ON VENUS ARISING FROM THE SEA by ANTIPATER OF SIDON |