Classic and Contemporary Poetry
INTIMATIONS OF MORTALITY FROM RECOLLECTIONS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD, by ALICE MEYNELL Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: It knows but will not tell Last Line: Those hidden lips are dumb. Alternate Author Name(s): Meynell, Wilfrid, Mrs.; Thompson, Alice Christina Subject(s): Children; Immortality; Poetry & Poets; Wordsworth, William (1770-1850); Childhood | ||||||||
A simple child ... That lightly draws its breath And feels its life in every limb, What should it know of death? WORDSWORTH. IT knows but will not tell. Awake, alone, it counts its father's years -- How few are left -- its mother's. Ah, how well It knows of death, in tears. If any of the three -- Parents and child -- believe they have prevailed To keep the secret of mortality, I know that two have failed. The third, the lonely, keeps One secret -- a child's knowledge. When they come At night to ask wherefore the sweet one weeps, Those hidden lips are dumb. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE I AM THE WAY' by ALICE MEYNELL |
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