Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN HOSPITAL: 2. WAITING, by WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN HOSPITAL: 2. WAITING, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: A square, squat room (a cellar on promotion)
Last Line: Life is (I think) a blunder and a shame.
Alternate Author Name(s): Henley, W. E.
Subject(s): Hospitals


A square, squat room (a cellar on promotion),
Drab to the soul, drab to the very daylight;
Plasters astray in unnatural looking tinware;
Scissors and lint and apothecary's jars.

Here, on a bench a skeleton could writhe from,
Angry and sore, I wait to be admitted:
Wait till me heart is lead upon my stomach,
While at their ease two dressers do their chores.

One has a probe -- it feels to me a crowbar.
A small boy sniffs and shudders after bluestone.
A poor old tramp explains his poor old ulcers.
Life is (I think) a blunder and a shame.





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