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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
IN HOSPITAL: 4. BEFORE, by WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Behold me waiting - waiting for the knife Last Line: You carry caesar and his fortunes - steady! Alternate Author Name(s): Henley, W. E. Subject(s): Hospitals | |||
Behold me waiting -- waiting for the knife. A little while, and at a leap I storm The thick, sweet mystery of chloroform, The drunken dark, the little death-in-life. The gods are good to me: i have no wife, No innocent child, to think of as I near The fateful minute; nothing all-too dear Unmans me for my bout of passive strife. Yet am I tremulous and a trifle sick, And, face to face with chance, I shrink a little: My hopes are strong, my will is something weak. Here comes the basket? Thank you. I am ready. But, gentlemen, my porters, life is brittle: You carry Caesar and his fortunes - steady! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HAVING BEEN ASKED WHAT IS A MAN? I ANSWER by PHILIP LEVINE NEW YEAR'S EVE, IN HOSPITAL by PHILIP LEVINE THE DEMOCRATIC DIME by EVE MERRIAM THIS DID NOT HAPPEN by THYLIAS MOSS WALT WHITMAN IN THE CIVIL WAR HOSPITALS by DAVID IGNATOW A FIELD HOSPITAL by RANDALL JARRELL BALLADE OF DEAD ACTORS by WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY |
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