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Beddoes  
Thomas Lovell Beddoes
1803-1849

 
"The Last Man"

 

By heaven and hell, and all the fools between them,
I will not die, nor sleep, nor wink my eyes,
But think myself into a god; old Death
Shall dream he has slain me, and I'll creep behind him,
Thrust off the bony tyrant from his throne
And beat him into dust. Or I will burst
Damnation's iron egg, my tomb, and come
Half damned, ere they make lightning of my soul,
And creep into thy carcase as thou sleepest
Between two crimson fevers. I'll dethrone
The empty skeleton, and be thy death,
A death of grinding madness. – Fear me now;
I am a devil, not a human soul –

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POETS Main Page INDEX of Poets INDEX of Titles & First Lines "The Back Page"