Death as the Teacher of Love-Lore
'Twas in mid autumn, and the woods were still.
A brooding mist from out the marshlands lay
Like age’s clammy hand upon the day,
Soddening it;— and the night rose dank and chill.
I watched the sere leaves falling, falling, till
Old thoughts, old hopes, seemed fluttering too away,
And then I sighed to think how life’s decay,
And change, and time’s mischances, Love might kill.
Sudden a shadowy horseman, at full speed
Spurring a pale horse, passed me swiftly by,
And mocking shrieked, “Thy love is dead indeed,
Haste to the burial!”— With a bitter cry
I swooned, and wake to wonder at my creed,
Learning from Death that Love can never die.
~~
Frank T. Marzials (1840-1912)
from Death's Disguises, and other sonnets, 1889
[Poem is in the public domain worldwide]
Frank T. Marzials biography
Sawrey Gilpin (1733-1807), Death on a Pale Horse. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
The indentation (?) I noticed the 2nd and 3rd lines were like an afterthought describing the introductory line (because I would like to learn why & how to do this). 'Sere': dried and withered. Leaves decay; life's decay. That love can kill (?). Mischances at love (?). Title: Death as the Teacher of Love-Lore; unrequited love. Could a shadowy horseman be a spirit/senses/feeling/awareness; a subconscious thought unleashed? Learning from death that love can never die - revelatory. 💟💟💟💟💟💟
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