Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IF LIFE BE BITTER, by RHYS CARPENTER


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IF LIFE BE BITTER, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: If life be bitter and if death be sweet
Last Line: Dim shadow-hordes, the mongols of the night.
Subject(s): Death; Life; Dead, The


IF life be bitter and if death be sweet
Clasp hands with darkness, let thy lips
Kiss out the sunlight, let thy feet
Move down the shadowy eclipse:
Too much of light there is, too much of day,
Too little silence and too little dark;
Deeper than life the flood flows on alway.
Quench out thy light, tread out the tiny spark.

If death be bitter and if life be sweet,
Clasp hands with daylight, let thy hair
Be soft with flowers, and let thy feet
Move blithely down the dancer's stair:
Too little light, alas, too little day
Will bide for us on phantom wings of flight
Before the sweeping onset of the gray
Dim shadow-hordes, the Mongols of the night.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net