Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LIFE by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE

Poet Analysis

First Line: HEARKEN, O DEAR, NOW STRIKES THE HOUR WE DIE
Last Line: OF ALL THINGS LOVELY THE COLD MORTUARY.
Hearken, O dear, now strikes the hour we die;
We, who in one strange kiss
Have proved a dream the world's realities,
Turned each from other's darkness with a sigh,
Need heed no more of life, waste no more breath
On any other journey, but of death.

And yet: Oh, know we well
How each of us must prove Love's infidel;
Still out of ecstasy turn trembling back
To earth's same empty track
Of leaden day by day, and hour by hour, and be
Of all things lovely the cold mortuary.



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