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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


WEDDED, BUT NOT MATED by GRACE DENIO LITCHFIELD

First Line: WEDDING BELLS AND DEATH-KNELLS
Last Line: THE BELLS HAVE CEASED TO SWING.
Subject(s): BRIDES; CHURCHES; MARRIAGE; WEDDING SONG; CATHEDRALS; WEDDINGS; HUSBANDS; WIVES; EPITHALAMIUM;

WEDDING bells and death-knells
Ringing forth together.
(Shines the sun? or is it dun?
Or is it stormy weather?)
Oh, woe the knells! Oh, joy the bells
That sob and shout in chime!
They bid to a marriage and funeral carriage
At one and the self-same time.

Wedding bells and death-knells
Ringing forth together.
(Be there sun or be there none,
What care I for the weather?)
They toll, they toll, for a tortured soul.
They call to a marriage feast.
One shall be wedded, one be buried,
And both by the self-same priest.

Wedding bells and death-knells
Ringing forth together.
(Falls the rain upon the pane?
'T is time for saddest weather!)
Funeral knells and marriage bells.
A shroud and a wedding ring.
A soul is wed. A soul is dead.
The bells have ceased to swing.



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