The Modern PoetFor your words and others.
Release 15
Always tinkering.

I use this place too. I keep finding things to add, change, or make a little better.

Latest check: 1,242 passed. Regular checks, ongoing improvements.

This round: quieter reading, book-style chapters, and one HH throughout.

THE MODERN POET

The Funeral

By John Donne

Whoever comes to shroud me, do not harm Nor question much That subtle wreath of hair which crowns my arm; The mystery, the sign, you must not touch, For 'tis my outward Soul, Viceroy to that which then to heaven being gone Will leave this to control And keep these limbs, her Provinces, from dissolution. For if the sinewy thread my brain lets fall Through every part Can tie those parts, and make me one of all, These hairs, which upward grew, and strength and art Have from a better brain, Can better do't; except she meant that I By this should know my pain, As prisoners then are manacled when they're condemned to die. Whate'er she meant by 't, bury it with me, For since I am Love's martyr, it might breed idolatry If into others' hands these relics came; As 'twas humility To afford to it all that a Soul can do, So 'tis some bravery That since you would save none of me, I bury some of you.

Original source ↗

Poetry data from PoetryDB, curated by The Combed Thunderclap · metadata CC BY 4.0 · Public-domain poem text (USA)

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