The Gardener 81: O Death, My Death
The Gardener 81: O Death, My Death - meaning Summary
Longing for a Dignified End
The speaker addresses Death as an intimate beloved and rejects its furtive, whispering approach. Instead of a stealthy, sleepy seduction, the speaker demands a bold, ceremonial meeting: wreaths, torches, conch-shells, a crimson mantle, a neighing chariot and a raised veil. The poem frames death as a sought-after union and insists on a dignified, public ritual that foregrounds pride, visibility and passionate consummation rather than quiet dissolution.
Read Complete AnalysesWhy do you whisper so faintly in my ears, O Death, my Death? When the flowers droop in the evening and cattle come back to their stalls, you stealthily come to my side and speak words that I do not understand. Is this how you must woo and win me with the opiate of drowsy murmur and cold kisses, O Death, my Death? Will there be no proud ceremony for our wedding? Will you not tie up with a wreath your tawny coiled locks? Is there none to carry your banner before you, and will not the night be on fire with your red torch-lights, O Death, my Death? Come with your conch-shells sounding, come in the sleepless night. Dress me with a crimson mantle, grasp my hand and take me. Let your chariot be ready at my door with your horses neighing impatiently. Raise my veil and look at my face proudly, O Death, my Death!
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