Time & Brevity

Testament

by Sara Teasdale 1884–1933

From Rivers to the Sea

Time & Brevity

I said, "I will take my life
And throw it away;
I who was fire and song
Will turn to clay."

"I will lie no more in the night
With shaken breath,
I will toss my heart in the air
To be caught by Death."

But out of the night I heard,
Like the inland sound of the sea,
The hushed and terrible sob
Of all humanity.

Then I said, "Oh who am I
To scorn God to his face?
I will bow my head and stay
And suffer with my race."

MLA

Teasdale, Sara. “Testament.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/teasdale/86/.

Chicago

Teasdale, Sara. “Testament.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/teasdale/86/.

Read this poem with the Codex →

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