“The Lonely Death” by Adelaide Crapsey

The Lonely Death

In the cold I will rise, I will bathe
In waters of ice; myself
Will shiver, and shrive myself,
Alone in the dawn, and anoint
Forehead and feet and hands;
I will shutter the windows from light,
I will place in their sockets the four
Tall candles and set them a-flame
In the grey of the dawn; and myself
Will lay myself straight in my bed,
And draw the sheet under my chin.


Adelaide Crapsey's poem "The Lonely Death" was published in the 1916 Others anthology. To read this poem in a digitized version of this publication, follow the link below:

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