If This Is Fading
poem 120
If This Is Fading - meaning Summary
Facing Decline with Defiant Joy
The poem addresses fading, dying, and sleep, treating decline with immediate acceptance and a note of theatrical pride. The speaker asks for swift fading or a vivid "shroud of red" if dying, then welcomes sleep as a dignified closing. The closing greeting and the peacock image frame mortality as a composed, almost performative exit, blending dark humor with defiant self-possession.
Read Complete AnalysesIf this is fading Oh let me immediately fade! If this is dying Bury me, in such a shroud of red! If this is sleep, On such a night How proud to shut the eye! Good Evening, gentle Fellow men! Peacock presumes to die!
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