Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A CHANT, by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES Poet Analysis First Line: With all our mirth, I doubt if we shall be Last Line: Due to the corpses you have gone and seen to. Alternate Author Name(s): Davies, W. H. Subject(s): Corpses; Morticians; Old Age; Cadavers | ||||||||
With all our mirth, I doubt if we shall be Like Martha here, in her serenity, When we're her age; who goes from bed to bed, To wash the faces of the newly dead; To close their staring eyes and comb their hair, To cross their hands and change the linen there; Who helps the midwife to give strength and breath To babes, by almost beating them to death With a wet towel; and half drowns them too, Until their tender flesh is black and blue. Not all the revels, Martha, we have been to Can give us, when we're old, a peace like yours -- Due to the corpses you have gone and seen to. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CORPSES (1) by LYNN EMANUEL LENINGRAD CEMETERY, WINTER OF 1941 by SHARON OLDS TWO VIEWS OF A CADAVER ROOM: 2 by SYLVIA PLATH THE SHAPE OF THE CORONER by WALLACE STEVENS A MONUMENT by ALBERT GOLDBARTH THE BOOK OF THE DEAD MAN (#1): 2. MORE ABOUT THE DEAD MAN by MARVIN BELL A BIRD'S ANGER by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES |
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