Robert Nichols
Come now, O Death,
While I am proud,
While joy and awe are breath,
And heart beats loud!
While all around me stand
Men that I love,
The wind blares aloud, the grand
Sun wheels above.
Naked I stand to-day
Before my doom,
Welcome what comes my way,
Whatever come.
What is there more to ask
Than that I have?—
Companions, love, a task,
And a deep grave!
Come then, Eternity,
If thou my lot;
Having been thus, I cannot be
As if I had not.
Naked I wait my doom!
Earth enough shroud!
Death, in thy narrow room
Man can lie proud!
© by owner. provided at no charge for educational purposes
You may find this and other poems here.
Analysis (AI Assisted)
In this poem, the speaker adopts an unflinching and almost defiant stance toward death, welcoming it with an intensity that reflects both acceptance and pride. The opening lines, “Come now, O Death, / While I am proud,” set the tone for what follows: a quiet yet firm confrontation with mortality. Unlike the typical fear or resistance one might associate with death, the speaker here is resolute, embracing their fate fully, in the company of men they love, under the grand expanse of nature.
The imagery of the “wind blaring aloud” and the “grand sun” contrasts the stillness of death with the vitality of life, yet these elements work together to affirm the speaker’s readiness. The setting of “naked” before death suggests vulnerability, yet this vulnerability is met with strength and pride, as if the speaker, in shedding all pretenses, is somehow more whole or truthful in the face of what comes next.
The mention of “companions, love, a task, and a deep grave” suggests that the speaker has lived fully—surrounded by love, having completed their duties, and now, with no unfulfilled desires, they can face death without regret. This resignation, though tinged with acceptance, isn’t passive—it’s active, as the speaker has made peace with the inevitable and now stands in defiance, not out of anger or fear, but out of the confidence that they have lived with purpose.
In the concluding lines, “Death, in thy narrow room / Man can lie proud!” the speaker’s ultimate claim is that, in the end, death doesn’t diminish the value of life lived; rather, it completes it. The “narrow room” of death does not negate the grandeur of a life well-lived. The speaker’s pride in facing death stands as a testimony to the life they’ve led, implying that while death may be inevitable and finite, the dignity of one’s life can transcend it.
This poem, in its rawness, offers a powerful meditation on life and death, stripping away fear and replacing it with a sense of completeness. It asks the reader to consider how they might face their own mortality—not with fear, but with the pride of having lived fully.