God Lay Dead in Heaven
God Lay Dead in Heaven - meaning Summary
Divine Death and Human Vulnerability
The poem depicts a cosmic collapse after God is dead, triggering mourning angels, bloodlike winds, and the earth sinking into darkness. From hidden caverns emerge monstrous forces that battle over the ruined world. Amid apocalyptic violence the final image is intimate and bleak: a woman clutches a sleeping man, trying to shield him from a devouring beast. The poem contrasts vast theological catastrophe with a small human act of protection.
Read Complete AnalysesGod lay dead in heaven; Angels sang the hymn of the end; Purple winds went moaning, Their wings drip-dripping With blood That fell upon the earth. It, groaning thing, Turned black and sank. Then from the far caverns Of dead sins Came monsters, livid with desire. They fought, Wrangled over the world, A morsel. But of all sadness this was sad - A woman's arms tried to shield The head of a sleeping man From the jaws of the final beast.
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