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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


IN THE SHADOWS: 5 by DAVID GRAY (1838-1861)

First Line: LAST NIGHT, ON COUGHING SLIGHTLY WITH SHARP PAIN
Last Line: FORGETTING THAT TO ABOLISH DEATH CHRIST DIED.
Subject(s): SICKNESS; ILLNESS;

Last night, on coughing slightly with sharp pain,
There came arterial blood, and with a sigh
Of absolute grief I cried in bitter vein,
That drop is my death-warrant: I must die.
Poor meagre life is mine, meagre and poor!
Rather a piece of childhood thrown away;
An adumbration faint; the overture
To stifled music; year that ends in May;
The sweet beginning of a tale unknown;
A dream unspoken; promise unfulfilled;
A morning with no noon, a rose unblown, --
All its deep rich vermilion crushed and killed
I' th' bud by frost: -- Thus in false fear I cried,
Forgetting that to abolish death Christ died.



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