Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

NO COWARD'S SONG by JAMES ELROY FLECKER

First Line: I AM AFRAID TO THINK ABOUT MY DEATH
Last Line: A LIVING MOUSE THAN DEAD AS A MAN DIES.
Subject(s): DEATH; DEAD, THE;
I am afraid to think about my death,
When it shall be, and whether in great pain
I shall rise up and fight the air for breath
Or calmly wait the bursting of my brain.

I am no coward who could seek in fear
A folk-lore solace or sweet Indian tales:
I know dead men are deaf and cannot hear
The singing of a thousand nightingales.

I know dead men are blind and cannot see
The friend that shuts in horror their big eyes,
And they are witless -- O, I'd rather be
A living mouse than dead as a man dies.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net