Poems (Jackson)/"Dropped Dead"
"DROPPED DEAD."
LL, royal strengths in life, until the end,Will bear themselves still royally. DegreesOf dying they know not: the muddy leesThey will not drink: no man shall see them bendOr slacken in the storm: no man can lendTo them. Those feeble souls who crouch on kneesThat fail, and cling to shadows of lost ease,Death tortures. But, as kings to kings may send,He challenges the strong.He challenges the strong.Such death as thisO'ertakes great love; a lesser love will missSuch stroke; may dwindle painfully away,And fade, and simply cease to breathe, some day.But great loves, to the last, have pulses red;All great loves that have ever died dropped dead.