HALLOWE'EN
TONIGHT I know they will come. They have often come before, But tonight is theirs, and I Am alive and they are dead. My heart beats like a drum And they come to my heart's war To wrestle and fall and die. For me, for me, they are dead.
All my compassion and love And pity amount to this : Samson pulls down the sky Upon his tragic head: Though lips at midnight move To the conclusive kiss,
The cock must crow and I Am alive and they are dead.
I cry to them " Forgive " This benison of breath, " Of finger, thew, and eye, " White teeth in the white bread ; " For I love the life I live, " Even as you ; and death " Is the end of life, and I " Am alive and you are dead."
I see them gather round Like the audience of a play. I must act so marvellously They will forget they are dead! But my lips make no sound I have no words to say— The day is beginning and I Am alive but they are dead.
PATRIC DICKINSON.
Previous page
