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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
ONCE WITH DEATH NEAR, by REBA MAXWELL AVERY First Line: Once, with death near, I thought: what will it mean Last Line: Will live beyond the sleep that men call death. Subject(s): Death; Love; Sonnet (as Literary Form); Dead, The | |||
Once, with death near, I thought: What will it mean, This lying still, with no small task to hew -- The moonlight gone, the pines, the lace-trimmed blue Midsummer skies when rains have washed them clean? I thought of how we strolled through meadows green With April, gathering lilies drenched in dew; I thought of many things, but most of you, Love on our lips, and no dark fear between, A petal fallen from its flower will leave The flower scarred, its beauty incomplete, Yet with no loss of hue or perfumed breath. You I am petal of can never grieve, Knowing our love that made the hours sweet Will live beyond the sleep that men call death. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND ALL THIS by REBA MAXWELL AVERY LET THE LIGHT ENTER (THE DYING WORDS OF GOETHE) by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER |
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