Classic Poem

27.
I have dreamed of Death: — what will it be to die
Not in a dream, but in the literal truth
With all Death's adjuncts ghastly and uncouth,
The pang that is the last and the last sigh?
Too dulled, it may be, for a last good-bye,
Too comfortless for any one to soothe,
A helpless charmless spectacle of ruth
Thro' long last hours, so long while yet they fly.
So long to those who hopeless in their fear
Watch the slow breath and look for what they dread:
While I supine with ears that cease to hear,
With eyes that glaze, with heart pulse running down
(Alas! no saint rejoicing on her bed),
May miss the goal at last, may miss a crown.