Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THRENODY by WINIFRED WELLES

First Line: I NEVER HAVE KNOWN ANYONE SO PROUD
Last Line: THIS IS NOT YOU, OH PITIFUL AND DEAD!
Subject(s): DEATH; MEMORY; DEAD, THE;

I never have known anyone so proud,
So fierce for faith, so strong for nobleness.
I never heard you whine nor cry distress,
Nor saw you kneel nor knew your bright head bowed.
Dreams, Love and Laughter were a swift, white crowd
Of wings flashed upward from your loveliness --
You carried Truth, wore Honor as a dress,
And wound yourself in Beauty like a cloud.

Surely this is not you who lies so low,
Smitten as others, yielding as they must
With abject hands and smooth, submissive head --
All fire and glory crumpled by one blow,
Bewildered and beaten and brought to dust,
This is not you, oh pitiful and dead!



Home: PoetryExplorer.net