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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SON OF MAN by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE

Poet Analysis

First Line: SON OF MAN, TELL ME
Last Line: SINCE THOU ART THYSELF AS I AM.
Subject(s): EPITAPHS;

Son of man, tell me,
Hast thou at any time lain in thick darkness,
Gazing up into a lightless silence,
A dark void vacancy,
Like the woe of the sea
In the unvisited places of the ocean?
And nothing but thine own frail sentience
To prove thee living?
Lost in this affliction of the spirit,
Did'st thou then call upon God
Of his infinite mercy to reveal to thee
Proof of his presence --
His presence and love for thee, exquisite creature of his creation?
To show thee but some small devisal
Of his infinite compassion and pity, even though it were as fleeting
As the light of a falling star in a dewdrop?
Hast thou? O, if thou hast not,
Do it now; do it now; do it now!
Lest that night come which is sans sense, thought, tongue, stir, time, being,
And the moment is for ever denied thee,
Since thou art thyself as I am.



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