Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE PAIUTE LAMENT OF A MAN FOR HIS SON by ANONYMOUS

First Line: "SON, MY SON! / I WILL GO UP TO THE MOUNTAIN"
Last Line: "WHAT IS LIFE TO ME, NOW YOU ARE DEPARTED?"
Subject(s): LAMENT;

SON, my son!
I will go up to the mountain
And there I will light a fire
To the feet of my son's spirit,
And there will I lament him;
Saying,
O my son,
What is my life to me, now you are departed?

Son, my son,
In the deep earth
We softly laid thee
In a chief's robe,
In a warrior's gear.
Surely there,
In the spirit land
Thy deeds attend thee!
Surely,
The corn comes to the ear again!
But I, here,
I am the stalk that the seed-gatherers
Descrying empty, afar, left standing.
Son, my son!
What is my life to me, now you are departed?



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