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10.11: Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?

  • Page ID
    3174
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    “Ah, are you digging on my grave,
    My loved one? — planting rue[1]?”
    — “No: yesterday he went to wed
    One of the brightest wealth has bred.
    ‘It cannot hurt her now,’ he said,
    ‘That I should not be true.'”

    “Then who is digging on my grave,
    My nearest dearest kin?”
    — “Ah, no: they sit and think, ‘What use!
    What good will planting flowers produce?
    No tendance of her mound can loose
    Her spirit from Death’s gin[2].'”

    “But someone digs upon my grave?
    My enemy? — prodding sly?”
    — “Nay: when she heard you had passed the Gate
    That shuts on all flesh soon or late,
    She thought you no more worth her hate,
    And cares not where you lie.

    “Then, who is digging on my grave?
    Say — since I have not guessed!”
    — “O it is I, my mistress dear,
    Your little dog , who still lives near,
    And much I hope my movements here
    Have not disturbed your rest?”

    “Ah yes! You dig upon my grave…
    Why flashed it not to me
    That one true heart was left behind!
    What feeling do we ever find
    To equal among human kind
    A dog’s fidelity!”

    “Mistress, I dug upon your grave
    To bury a bone, in case
    I should be hungry near this spot
    When passing on my daily trot.
    I am sorry, but I quite forgot
    It was your resting place.”

    — 1914

    Contributors and Attributions


    1. A strong-scented, woody herb. Also, sorrow, regret.
    2. A trap.

    10.11: Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave? is shared under a CC BY license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.

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