Ante Mortem
Robinson Jeffers 1887 (Allegheny) – 1962 (Carmel-by-the-Sea)
It is likely enough that lions and scorpions
Guard the end; life never was bonded to be endurable nor the
act of dying
Unpainful; the brain burning too often
Earns, though it held itself detached from the object, often a
burnt age.
No matter, I shall not shorten it by hand.
Incapable of body or unmoved of brain is no evil, one always
went envying
The quietness of stones. But if the striped blossom
Insanity spread lewd splendors and lightning terrors at the end
of the forest;
Or intolerable pain work its known miracle,
Exile the monarch soul, set a sick monkey in the office . . .
remember me
Entire and balanced when I was younger,
And could lift stones, and comprehend in the praises the cruelties
of life.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 14, 2023
- 38 sec read
- 60 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABCDBEFGCHIJKLMNOP |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 704 |
Words | 129 |
Stanzas | 1 |
Stanza Lengths | 18 |
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"Ante Mortem" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32773/ante-mortem>.
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