Classic and Contemporary Poetry
EPICEDIUM, by BERNICE SWANSON First Line: Death stalks on velvet, catlike feet Last Line: So greatly nowsince we are dead. Subject(s): Death; Dead, The | ||||||||
Death stalks on velvet, catlike feet, Invisible, his sable shroud Wrapped tight, lest seeing, we entreat For mercy. Well he knows our proud Demeanor and our taunts of him Are but a screen for abject fear, A farce we play until his grim Reality is close,so near We feel his breath, and groping, meet His out-stretched hand. Ah, then we know The cup of Life is very sweet, Nor empty yet, though we must go Our thirst unslaked. We drop our mask Of arrogance to beg, implore In stark humility we ask A deeper drink from Life before Death leads us out, and shuts the door. But Death, immutable, holds fast Our hands. He takes us firmly past The threshold, dark and overcast With shadows that we do not dread So greatly nowsince we are dead. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND |
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