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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

WHEN I'M KILLED by ROBERT RANKE GRAVES

Poem Explanation Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN I'M KILLED, DON'T THINK OF ME
Last Line: YOUR PLAYFELLOW FROM THE GRAVE.
Subject(s): DEATH; WORLD WAR I; DEAD, THE; FIRST WORLD WAR;
WHEN I'm killed, don't think of me
Buried there in Cambrin Wood,
Nor as in Zion think of me
With the Intolerable Good.
And there's one thing that I know well,
I'm damned if I'll be damned to Hell!

So when I'm killed, don't wait for me,
Walking the dim corridor;
In Heaven or Hell, don't wait for me,
Or you must wait for evermore.
You'll find me buried, living-dead
In these verses that you've read.

So when I'm killed, don't mourn for me,
Shot, poor lad, so bold and young,
Killed and gone -- don't mourn for me.
On your lips my life is hung:
O friends and lovers, you can save
Your playfellow from the grave.




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