If God compel thee to this destiny,
To die alone, with none beside thy bed
To ruffle round with sobs thy last word said
And mark with tears the pulses ebb from thee,—
Pray then alone, ' O Christ, come tenderly !
By thy forsaken Sonship in the red
Drear wine-press,—by the wilderness out-spread,—
And the lone garden where thine agony
Fell bloody from thy brow,—by all of those
Permitted desolations, comfort mine !
No earthly friend being near me, interpose
No deathly angel 'twixt my face aud thine,
But stoop Thyself to gather my life's rose,
And smile away my mortal to Divine ! '
Notes
Inscribed To My Friend E. C.
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Comments
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'To be or not to be'
Elizabeth Barrett Browning seems to be drowning her sorrow and loneliness with red wine. She seems to hope for unconsciousness to envelop her so she can tread safely the way to meet her dear departed friend in heaven. -
Very touching
No one ever dies alone, there is always loved ones gone before to take them home, aided by the angels sent to guide them through their transition to their new life. -
very touching
Was Elisabeth asking Christ to come near her , to make her drunk with wine and then bear her away to heaven without the help of a death angel? Perhaps she wanted a quick death- maybe a heart attack while she was drunk. What do you think? Iana -
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Possibly EBB was saying that if there are no friends around to offer up a prayer to God for his intercession then the friend EC should ask Jesus to intervene instead. A seperation of the roles of the Trinity.
Not a request for an early or an assisted death but for a speedy transition from this world to the next.
Jim
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this poem changed my life
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since i was young i have always thought that i would die alone. loneliness is a strange one, i like solitude and live my life as a virtual recluse but at times it is painful when feeling small in a wider world. is a good poem this, though i'm not particularly religious i do tend wonder at times if there is/isn't a god. i suppose i will find out soon enough when time has had its way.
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A+
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i worry sometimes as i grow older about dying alone. i don't read many poems in this format but this poem has such consistency in its structure, every syllable where it ought to be i could not resist. the closing line is one of the best ever.
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One of the better poems i've read in a long while! The comfort of believing an angel is beside,or family...I think everyone wants to feel like they were loved on their final day's.
~CWM~ -
Elizabeth Browning is one of my favorotes. This poem inspred my entry in the OP contest, though mine is not exactly about the same subject, it is about death, but not dieing alone. I love
E B Brownings style of writing. It is so beautifyl -
I'm writting a paper for Elizabeth Browning and i need some analysis of her poetry. Any ideas?
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This is deep! pretty good!
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