Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LIVING AND THE DEAD, by JOHN COWPER POWYS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LIVING AND THE DEAD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The humming sea is full of dirges
Last Line: Who have passed into repose!
Subject(s): Bones; Death; Life; Loss; Sea; Dead, The; Ocean


The humming sea is full of dirges
Rung and tolled.
The drifting sea beneath its surges
Doth enfold
Bones and skulls that once made sleep
Flee from hearts impassioned deep;
Flee from eyes that could not weep.
They have lost their former spell --
Seaweeds cover them too well.

And the lovers of these bones,
Where they hear not the sea's dirges,
Speak in quiet patient tones
Of what lie beneath the surges --
She no more, they say, will feel
The harsh turning of life's wheel.
She no more will feel, they say,
The sharp pinching of life's play.

But the poor bones, tossed and tangled,
Hearing those sea-dirges jangled,
Mutter sadly, in their moving
Tomb, of what they've lost.
Ah! they moan -- that we again
Might drive sleep away from men!
Thus the tender thoughts of lovers
Whom the warm sweet flesh still covers
Differ from the thoughts of those
Who have passed into repose!





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