Despairing Cries
Despairing Cries - meaning Summary
Facing Death's Unanswered Questions
The speaker encounters persistent 'despairing cries' tied to death and dying. Voices of loved ones—old, young, male and female—ask where they go and seek reassurance about fate after life. The speaker responds with sympathy and attentiveness but admits an inability to answer these existential questions. Death is framed as an imminent sea-voyage, and the poem emphasizes human uncertainty and longing for guidance at the approach of mortality.
Read Complete Analyses1 DESPAIRING cries float ceaselessly toward me, day and night, The sad voice of Death—the call of my nearest lover, putting forth, alarmed, uncertain, This sea I am quickly to sail, come tell me, Come tell me where I am speeding—tell me my destination. 2 I understand your anguish, but I cannot help you, I approach, hear, behold—the sad mouth, the look out of the eyes, your mute inquiry, Whither I go from the bed I now recline on, come tell me; Old age, alarmed, uncertain—A young woman’s voice appealing to me, for comfort, A young man’s voice, Shall I not escape?
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