Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE IMMORTALS, by GENEVIEVE TAGGARD


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THE IMMORTALS, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: His son is dead,' they say, 'his son is / dead'
Last Line: Dust; still immortal; eternal and unsung.
Alternate Author Name(s): Wolf, Robert Leopold, Mrs.
Subject(s): Immortality; Kipling, Rudyard (1865-1936)


(On hearing of the death of Kipling's son.)

"HIS son is dead," they say, "His son is dead."
"Dead," someone mutters, stirring up the fire,
"And still the old world labors without tire,
And bears new grain to blow where he was bled."

"His father mourns, but not alone," they said.
"What need to mourn. His Art can still inspire,
Sons of the future for a kinship higher."
I thought of Fame these men so coveted,

And saw the children of his spirit go
Far down the future, lonely, old and strange,
Speaking a foreign and an ancient tongue;

While he some mourn as dead, who do not know
Born of frail flesh, is blown by winds of change,
Dust; still immortal; eternal and unsung.





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