GIVE me to die unwitting of the day, And stricken in Life's brave heat, with senses clear: Not swathed and couched until the lines appear Of Death's wan mask upon this withering clay, But as that old man eloquent made way From Earth, a nation's conclave hushed anear; Or as the chief whose fates, that he may hear The victory, one glorious moment stay. Or, if not thus, then with no cry in vain, No ministrant beside to ward and weep, Hand upon helm I would my quittance gain In some wild turmoil of the waters deep, And sink content into a dreamless sleep (Spared grave and shroud) below the ancient main. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LINES WRITTEN TO HIS WIFE [WHILE ON A VISIT TO UPPER INDIA] by REGINALD HEBER AEOLIAN HARP (1) by WILLIAM ALLINGHAM REASONABLE MELANCHOLY by JOSEPH BEAUMONT THE GODS OF THE EARTH BENEATH by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE LEADERS by LOUISE E. V. BOYD TO MY COUSIN CAREW RALEGH MARRYING MY LADY ALTHAM by THOMAS CAREW PROVERBS IN RHYME by ALICE CARY THE CANTERBURY TALES: THE SUMMONER'S TALE by GEOFFREY CHAUCER ON THE BURNING OF LORD MANSFIELD'S LIBRARY (1) by WILLIAM COWPER |