Death & Dying
The Rubicon
From The Home Book of Verse, ed. Burton Stevenson (1912)
One other bitter drop to drink,
And then — no more!
One little pause upon the brink,
And then — go o'er!
One sigh — and then the lib'rant morn
Of perfect day,
When my free spirit, newly born,
Will soar away!
One pang — and I shall rend the thrall
Where grief abides,
And generous Death will show me all
That now he hides;
And, lucid in that second birth,
I shall discern
What all the sages of the earth
Have died to learn.
One motion — and the stream is crossed,
So dark, so deep!
And I shall triumph, or be lost
In endless sleep.
Then, onward! Whatsoe'er my fate,
I shall not care!
Nor Sin nor Sorrow, Love nor Hate
Can touch me there.
Cite this poem
MLA
Winter, William. “The Rubicon.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/winter/10/.
Chicago
Winter, William. “The Rubicon.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/winter/10/.
Read this poem with the Codex →