Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DIRGE by ALFRED FRANCIS KREYMBORG

First Line: DEATH ALONE / HAS SYMPATHY FOR WEARINESS
Last Line: OR COMPARISON.
Subject(s): DEATH; DIRIGIBLES; UNIVERSE; DEAD, THE;
Death alone
has sympathy for weariness:
understanding
of the ways
of mathematics:
of the struggle
against giving up what was given:
the plus one minus one
of nitrogen for oxygen:
and the unequal odds,
you a cell
against the universe,
a breath or two
against all time:
Death alone
takes what is left
without protest, criticism
or a demand for more
than one can give
who can give
no more than was given:
doesn't even ask,
but accepts it as it is,
without examination,
valuation,
or comparison.



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