Famous Death Poems - Page 2

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21. The Cross Of Snow

The Cross of Snow, a Sonnet, is an expression of grief by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow over the tragic death of his wife by fire. The poem was written eighteen years after her death. While trying to save her, Longfellow was burnt on his face. After which he stopped shaving and grew the distinctive beard which he is known by.

Famous Poem
- By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
In the long, sleepless watches of the night,
A gentle face — the face of one long dead —
Looks at me from the wall, where round its head
The night-lamp casts a halo of pale light.

In the long, sleepless watches of the night,
A gentle face — the face of one long dead —
Looks at me from the wall, where round its head
The night-lamp casts a halo of pale light.
Here in this room she died; and soul more white
Never through martyrdom of fire was led
To its repose; nor can in books be read
The legend of a life more benedight.
There is a mountain in the distant West
That, sun-defying, in its deep ravines
Displays a cross of snow upon its side.
Such is the cross I wear upon my breast
These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes
And seasons, changeless since the day she died.
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22. A Farewell

Alfred Tennyson (1809 - 1892) was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom. In this beautiful poem, Alfred Lord Tennyson compares the short life span of Man to the seemingly eternal lifespan of nature. He expresses a longing to live on for eternity. However, nature lives on forever, while humans live for but a short time. The rivulet moves on to becomes a river and then it merges in to the sea where it stays for eternity. Interestingly, a great poet's work lives on even after their death.

Famous Poem
- By Alfred Tennyson
Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea,
Thy tribute wave deliver:
No more by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.

Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea,
Thy tribute wave deliver:
No more by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.

Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea,
A rivulet then a river:
Nowhere by thee my steps shall be
For ever and for ever.

But here will sigh thine alder tree
And here thine aspen shiver;
And here by thee will hum the bee,
For ever and for ever.

A thousand suns will stream on thee,
A thousand moons will quiver;
But not by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.
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23. Because I Could Not Stop For Death

A poem about death. Dickinson portrays death as her companion in the carriage. She passes her childhood - the school, to her grave. The poem makes heavy use of the literary device of personification, giving death human characteristics.

Famous Poem
- By Emily Dickinson
Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.
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Yeah, I agree we don't stop to think that death will come and take us away even when the ones he has taken are staring right at us. My grandma passed away when I was little. I sobbed for hours.

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24. After Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes

A poem about emotional pain and grief, the body and minds reactions to terrible news. "After Great Pain, a Formal Feeling Comes" is a poem by Emily Dickinson about coping with intense emotional pain. The poet describes their numbed emotional state following a traumatic event. Dickinson uses metaphors and imagery to paint a vivid picture of the speaker's emotional detachment. The use of rhyme and a tight meter gives the poem a musical quality, emphasizing the speaker's numbness. It can be interpreted as Dickinson's own coping mechanism after experiencing a loss, but also applies to the reader's personal experiences and emotional numbness.

Famous Poem
- By Emily Dickinson
After great pain a formal feeling comes--
The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;
The stiff Heart questions--was it He that bore?
And yesterday--or centuries before?

After great pain a formal feeling comes--
The nerves sit ceremonious like tombs;
The stiff Heart questions--was it He that bore?
And yesterday--or centuries before?

The feet, mechanical, go round
A wooden way
Of ground, or air, or ought,
Regardless grown,
A quartz contentment, like a stone.

This is the hour of lead
Remembered if outlived,
As freezing persons recollect the snow--
First chill, then stupor, then the letting go.
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25. Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep

"Do not stand at my grave and weep" is the first line and popular title of this bereavement poem of disputed authorship. This extremely famous poem has been read at countless funerals and public occasions. There are in existence many slightly different versions of the poem. Written in the 1930's, it was repopularized during the late 1970s thanks to a reading by John Wayne at a funeral. Mary Elizabeth Frye (1905-2004), a florist from Baltimore, MD claimed to have composed this poem in 1932 in a moment of inspiration to comfort a family friend who had just lost her mother and was unable to even visit her grave. However, the poem was only first formally published in the December 1934 issue of The Gypsy poetry magazine where it was titled "Immortality", with the author as Clare Harner (1909–1977) from Kansas. Several of Harner’s other poems were published and anthologized.
The poem below is the version published in 1934 in The Gypsy poetry magazine.

Famous Poem

Top 100 2
- By Clare Harner
Do not stand
By my grave, and weep.
I am not there,
I do not sleep-

Do not stand
By my grave, and weep.
I am not there,
I do not sleep-
I am the thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints in snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain,
I am the gentle, autumn rain.
As you awake with morning’s hush,
I am the swift up-flinging rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight,
I am the day transcending soft night.
Do not stand
By my grave, and cry-
I am not there.
I did not die.

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It's what we want to believe. We don't cry because our loved one is dead, we cry because we won't ever see or talk to them again and we will miss them. We are crying for ourselves. Someone...

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26. But You Didn't

The excellent use of structure and repetition in this powerful poem contribute to the strong emotional reaction many people feel when reading this poem.
When a loved one doesn't return from war there will be many unresolved feelings. Don't wait to tell the important people in your life how you feel about them, do it right away. You never know if you'll get the chance again.

Famous Poem

Top 100 8
- By Merrill Glass
Analysis of Form and Technique

Remember the time you lent me your car and I dented it?
I thought you'd kill me...
But you didn't.

Remember the time you lent me your car and I dented it?
I thought you'd kill me...
But you didn't.

Remember the time I forgot to tell you the dance was
formal, and you came in jeans?
I thought you'd hate me...
But you didn't.

Remember the times I'd flirt with
other boys just to make you jealous, and
you were?
I thought you'd drop me...
But you didn't.

There were plenty of things you did to put up with me,
to keep me happy, to love me, and there are
so many things I wanted to tell
you when you returned from
Vietnam...
But you didn't.
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This poem truly moved me. I am waiting for my husband to come home from hospital. He has been there for four weeks now and is still in intensive care. He was admitted with sepsis, and so much...

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21 - 26 of 26

Famous Death Poems - Page 2

21. The Cross Of Snow

22. A Farewell

23. Because I Could Not Stop For Death

A poem about death. Dickinson portrays death as her companion in the carriage. She passes her childhood - the school, to her grave. The poem makes heavy use of the literary device of personification, giving death human characteristics.

24. After Great Pain, A Formal Feeling Comes

25. Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep

26. But You Didn't