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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


IN THE SHADOWS: 2 by DAVID GRAY (1838-1861)

First Line: IF IT MUST BE; IF IT MUST BE, O GOD!
Last Line: THE LAW OF LIFE IN PATIENCE TILL THE DAY.
Subject(s): DEATH; YOUTH; DEAD, THE;

If it must be; if it must be, O God!
That I die young, and make no further moans;
That, underneath the unrespective sod,
In unescutcheoned privacy, my bones
Shall crumble soon, -- then give me strength to bear
The last convulsive throe of too sweet breath!
I tremble from the edge of life, to dare
The dark and fatal leap, having no faith,
No glorious yearning for the Apocalypse;
But like a child that in the night-time cries
For light, I cry; forgetting the eclipse
Of knowledge and our human destinies.
O peevish and uncertain soul! obey
The law of life in patience till the Day.



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