The Shroud
Death, I say, my heart is bowed
Unto thine, O mother!
This red gown will make a shroud
Good as any other.
(I, that would not wait to wear
My own bridal things,
In a dress dark as my hair
Made my answerings.
I, to-night, that till he came
Could not, could not wait,
In a gown as bright as flame
Held for them the gate.)
Death, I say, my heart is bowed
Unto thine, O mother!
This red gown will make a shroud
Good as any other.
This poem is in the public domain. Published in Poem-a-Day on September 15, 2018, by the Academy of American Poets.