No freeman, saith the wise, thinks much on death: No man with soul he dareth call his own Liveth in dread lest there be no atone In time to come for yesterday's warm breath, No more than he for such end hungereth As falls to those who speed their souls a-groan; Death may be King, to sit a tottering throne And hale men hence -- let cowards cringe to Death! Who giveth, taketh; and the days go by: No seed sowed we; let him who did come reap: Sweet peace is ours -- and everlastingly, -- A little sleep, a little slumber! Ay, This much is known: there is for thee and me A little folding of the hands to sleep. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE KEARSARGE (1894) by JAMES JEFFREY ROCHE WHICH WAS MOST TRULY DEAD? by CHARLES AUGUSTIN SAINTE-BEUVE VORTICIST POEM ON LOVE by FRANKLIN PIERCE ADAMS STEEL OR GOLD?; THE QUESTION by LOUISA SARAH BEVINGTON THEODORE AND HONORIA by GIOVANNI BOCCACCIO |