Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BRAVADO, by CALE YOUNG RICE Poet's Biography First Line: When I am put to bed by death Last Line: Senselessness to any thrust. Subject(s): Death; Dirt; Graves; Dead, The; Tombs; Tombstones | ||||||||
When I am put to bed by death And tucked in by the grave-digger Under a blanket of red clay, As big as I or a little bigger, I shall find the means to walk -- If means are -- through rocks and rivers, And listening to the atoms talk Cull some wisdom from their quivers. I shall ply the mole with queries, Ask of the blind earth-worm the way. From queer bony fossil-series Learn if life has gone astray. Learn if up is better than down, If ascent has any meaning; If the ant-hill or the town Is the aim toward which Time's leaning. I shall have great whiles as spirit, If I'm that; if not as dust, Which at least has this merit: Senselessness to any thrust. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE SURVIVOR AMONG GRAVES by RANDALL JARRELL SUBJECTED EARTH by ROBINSON JEFFERS THE GRAVE OF MRS. HEMANS by CECIL FRANCES ALEXANDER THOSE GRAVES IN ROME by LARRY LEVIS NOT TO BE DWELLED ON by HEATHER MCHUGH ONE LAST DRAW OF THE PIPE by PAUL MULDOON ETRUSCAN TOMB by JOHN FREDERICK NIMS ENDING WITH A LINE FROM LEAR by MARVIN BELL A CHARM TO BRING CHILDREN (EGYPT, A.D. 100) by CALE YOUNG RICE |
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