The Lonely Death by Adelaide Crapsey. Jessie B. Rittenhouse, ed. 1922. The Second Book of Modern Verse

Jessie B. Rittenhouse, ed. (1869–1948). The Second Book of Modern Verse. 1922.

The Lonely Death

Adelaide Crapsey (1878–1914)


IN the cold I will rise, I will bathe
In waters of ice; myself
Will shiver, and shrive myself,
Alone in the dawn, and anoint
Forehead and feet and hands;	5
I will shutter the windows from light,
I will place in their sockets the four
Tall candles and set them aflame
In the grey of the dawn; and myself
Will lay myself straight in my bed,	10
And draw the sheet under my chin.