Teach Me I Am Forgotten by the Dead
Teach Me I Am Forgotten by the Dead - meaning Summary
Renouncing Ambition and Ego
The speaker asks to be taught that the dead forget him, prompting a radical moral recalibration. He resolves to renounce ambition, hope for grand ends, and risky projects, refusing theft, murder, or self‑seeking acts. Instead he would live within present means, subordinate personal desire to duty, and avoid harming others—since harming them would ultimately harm himself. The poem frames ethical restraint as a response to mortality and the vanity of lasting legacy.
Read Complete AnalysesTeach me I am forgotten by the dead And that the dead is by herself forgot And I no longer would keep terms with me. I would not murder, steal, or fornicate, Nor with ambition break the peace of towns But I would bury my ambition The hope & action of my sovereign soul In miserable ruin. Nor a hope Should ever make a holiday for me I would not be the fool of accident I would not have a project seek an end That needed aught Beyond the handful of my present means The sun of Duty drop from his firmament To be a rushlight for each petty end I would not harm my fellow men On this low argument, 'twould harm myself.
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