MOTHER, O fair earth-mother! Let not the hand of any other Than thine own self, most wise and mild Take the life of thy child. Let not mine own folly, Or murderous melancholy Senseless and wild, Or the blow of a madman's arm, Do me that final harm. Let rather one of thy great cliffs that fall Bury me underneath its wall; Or thine enormous sea Sweep over me. Whenever and however comes that day, Take thou my life away. So shall I seem to be a part Of all thou art; Mated with every noble natural form Of thine eternal power; A brother of the storm, One kindred with the mountain and the flower. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AMORETTI: 34 by EDMUND SPENSER DEATH AND THE MONK by ARTHUR E. BAKER THE SPAN OF LIFE by LEVI BISHOP RESIGNATION by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE TAKE YOUR CHOICE: AS LONGFELLOW WROTE IT by BERTON BRALEY FEARS AND SCRUPLES by ROBERT BROWNING ON THE DEATH OF MR. FOX by GEORGE GORDON BYRON |