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OBLIVION, by                    
First Line: I hope when I am dead that I shall lie
Last Line: Oblivion -- the shroud and envelope of happiness.
Subject(s): Negritude (literary Movement)


I hope when I am dead that I shall lie
In some deserted grave -- I cannot tell you why,
But I should like to sleep in some neglected spot,
Unknown to every one, by every one forgot.

There lying I should taste with my dead breath
The utter lack of life, the fullest sense of death;
And I should never hear the note of jealousy or hate,
The tribute paid by passers-by to tombs of state.

To me would never penetrate the prayers and tears
That futilely bring torture to dead and dying ears;
There I should lie annihilate and my dead heart would bless
Oblivion -- the shroud and envelope of happiness.






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