Dying! Dying in the Night!
poem 158
Dying! Dying in the Night! - meaning Summary
Fear Turned to Reassurance
The poem presents a speaker alarmed by dying in the night, urgently calling for light and direction amid a vague, cold “everlasting snow.” The expected comfort of Jesus seems absent or uncertain, prompting a plea and a hesitant concession. Salvation instead arrives as a familiar human presence: the speaker cries for Dollie and declares death harmless now that she is near. The poem contrasts existential fear and religious expectation with intimate, personal consolation, suggesting that companionship or a loved one can transform the experience of dying into comfort.
Read Complete AnalysesDying! Dying in the night! Won’t somebody bring the light So I can see which way to go Into the everlasting snow? And Jesus! Where is Jesus gone? They said that Jesus always came Perhaps he doesn’t know the House This way, Jesus, Let him pass! Somebody run to the great gate And see if Dollie’s coming! Wait! I hear her feet upon the stair! Death won’t hurt now Dollie’s here!
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