My Coffin
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Deeming that I was due to die
I framed myself a coffin;
So full of graveyard zeal was I,
I set the folks a-laughing.
I made it snugly to my fit,
My joinering was honest;
And sometimes in it I would sit,
And fancy I was non est.
I stored it on my cabin shelf
Forever to remind me,
When I was tickled with myself,
That Death was close behind me.
Let's be prepared, I used to say,
E're in the Dark we launch us:
And so with boding day by day
I kept me coffin-conscious.
Then came that winter dark as doom,
No firing wood had I;
My shack was icy as a tomb
And I was set to die.
But e'er the losing of my wits
I saw that coffin there,
S smashing the damned thing to bits
I made a gorgeous flare.
I never saw a flame so bright,
So goldenly divine,
As starred the blackness of the night
That boneyard box of mine.
And now I go forth coffin-shy,
With no more carnal fears,
For radiantly sure am I
I'll stack a hundred years.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 58 sec read
- 131 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AXAXBXBX CDCDEFEF GAGAHIHI JKJKALAL |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 896 |
Words | 190 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
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"My Coffin" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/32271/my-coffin>.
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