Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A CHANT, by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A CHANT, by                 Poet Analysis    
First Line: With all our mirth, I doubt if we shall be
Last Line: Due to the corpses you have gone and seen to.
Alternate Author Name(s): Davies, W. H.
Subject(s): Corpses; Morticians; Old Age; Cadavers


With all our mirth, I doubt if we shall be
Like Martha here, in her serenity,
When we're her age; who goes from bed to bed,
To wash the faces of the newly dead;
To close their staring eyes and comb their hair,
To cross their hands and change the linen there;
Who helps the midwife to give strength and breath
To babes, by almost beating them to death
With a wet towel; and half drowns them too,
Until their tender flesh is black and blue.
Not all the revels, Martha, we have been to
Can give us, when we're old, a peace like yours --
Due to the corpses you have gone and seen to.





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