This Living Hand, Now Warm and Capable
This Living Hand, Now Warm and Capable - meaning Summary
Mortality as Haunting Desire
The speaker addresses a beloved from the perspective of impending death. He contrasts the present warmth and capability of his hand with the chill of the tomb, imagining that his cold, dead hand would 'haunt' her and disturb her conscience. The poem conveys longing for remembered intimacy and a desperate wish that memories of him might soothe or justify her emotions after his death, informed by his failing health.
Read Complete AnalysesThis living hand, now warm and capable Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold And in the icy silence of the tomb, So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights That thou wouldst wish thine own heart dry of blood So in my veins red life might stream again And thou be conscience-calm’d—see here it is— I hold it towards you.
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