Deeming that I were better dead,
“How shall I kill myself?” I said.
Thus mooning by the river Seine
I sought extinction without pain,
When on a bridge I saw a flash
Of lingerie and heard a splash . . .
So as I am a swimmer stout
I plunged and pulled the poor wretch out.
The female that I saved? Ah yes,
To yield the Morgue of one corpse the less,
Apart from all heroic action,
Gave me a moral satisfaction.
was she an old and withered hag,
Too tired of life to long to lag?
Ah no, she was so young and fair
I fell in love with her right there.
And when she took me to her attic
Her gratitude was most emphatic.
A sweet and simple girl she proved,
Distraught because the man she loved
In battle his life-blood had shed . . .
So I, too, told her of my dead,
The girl who in a garret grey
Had coughed and coughed her life away.
Thus as we sought our griefs to smother,
With kisses we consoled each other . . .
And there’s the ending of my story;
It wasn’t grim, it wasn’t gory.
For comforted were hearts forlorn,
And from black sorrow joy was born:
So may our dead dears be forgiving,
And bless the rapture of the living.
(Robert William Service)
More Poetry from Robert William Service:
Robert William Service Poems based on Topics: Man, Life, War & Peace, Love, Joy & Excitement, Pain, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Morality, Actions- Fighting Mac (Robert William Service Poems)
- If You Had The Choice Of Two Women To Wed (Robert William Service Poems)
- (The sunshine seeks my little room) (Robert William Service Poems)
- Two Men (J. L. And R. B.) (Robert William Service Poems)
- Old Trouper (Robert William Service Poems)
- Infirmities (Robert William Service Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Love Poems, Man Poems, Life Poems, War & Peace Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Pain Poems, Forgiveness Poems, Actions Poems, Morality Poems, Gratitude PoemsBased on Keywords: coughed, extinction, deeming, consoled, life-blood, emphatic, swimmer, lag, hag, morgue, mooning
- Another Chance (Henry Van Dyke Poems)
- How The Fatuous Wish Of A Peasant Came True (Guy Wetmore Carryl Poems)
- To Brother Jonathan (Martin Farquhar Tupper Poems)
- On Reading Mr. Clarkson's History Of The Abolition Of The Slave Trade (John Wilson Poems)
- An Address Of An Ex-Confedera (Maurice Thompson Poems)