I dreamed that I was dead. "In a most wretched state Your impious soul"—the great voice said, "Will live again to expiate." "In October's yellow crest That biting north winds stir, Be the swallow without a nest." "Thank you; I'll fly to her!" "No! Be rather the lonely tree And in the whirlwind's whir Writhe with your foliage restlessly." "So be it! Perchance I shall shelter her." "Then, heart full of human love, The stone on the highway you shall be, That passing trucks may grind and shove." "What matter? if her foot trample me." "Insensate!" The voice rose to a roar; "This be the last disposal of you: You shall be a man once more And live again—and she not love you!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PROBLEM by RALPH WALDO EMERSON THE HILL WIFE: HOUSE FEAR by ROBERT FROST ROSE AYLMER by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR THE SHOEMAKERS by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER FABLE; ROME, 1875 by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |