I dreamed that I was dead. "In a most wretched state Your impious soul"—the great voice said, "Will live again to expiate." "In October's yellow crest That biting north winds stir, Be the swallow without a nest." "Thank you; I'll fly to her!" "No! Be rather the lonely tree And in the whirlwind's whir Writhe with your foliage restlessly." "So be it! Perchance I shall shelter her." "Then, heart full of human love, The stone on the highway you shall be, That passing trucks may grind and shove." "What matter? if her foot trample me." "Insensate!" The voice rose to a roar; "This be the last disposal of you: You shall be a man once more And live again—and she not love you!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WINGED MAN by STEPHEN VINCENT BENET UNDER THE OAK by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE JOHN PELHAM by JAMES RYDER RANDALL THE SON; SOUTHERN OHIO MARKET TOWN by FREDERICK RIDGELY TORRENCE ANECDOTE FOR FATHERS by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH EPIGRAM: 18. THE ENEMY OF LIFE by THOMAS WYATT A SHADOW OF THE NIGHT by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |