Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE DEAD by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES

Poet Analysis

First Line: NOT TILL MY SPIRIT'S NAKED AND ASHAMED
Last Line: AND FREE OF FLESH, WOULD I APPROACH THE DEAD.
Subject(s): DEATH; DEAD, THE;
Not till my Spirit's naked and ashamed,
And free of mortal flesh, would I desire
To sit in close communion with the dead.
I would not hear a friend exclaim in ire –
'When I was poor and kept your borrowed money,
You sulked and let our blood go cold and thin.'

I would not sit and hear a woman say –
'What do you want with me, poor child of sin;
Where did you hide your face for ten long years –
The face I missed beside my dying bed?'
Not till my Spirit's naked and ashamed,
And free of flesh, would I approach the dead.



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