Skip to content
Linespedia

Death and Birth

By Algernon Charles Swinburne

Topics: classic

Death and birth should dwell not near together:     Wealth keeps house not, even for shame, with dearth:     Fate doth ill to link in one brief tether     Death and birth.     Harsh the yoke that binds them, strange the girth     Seems that girds them each with each:    yet whether     Death be best, who knows, or life on earth?     Ill the rose-red and the sable feather     Blend in one crown's plume, as grief with mirth:     Ill met still are warm and wintry weather,     Death and birth.

AI analysis available. Enable JavaScript to interact.

About this line

"Death and birth should dwell not near together:..."

This evocative piece by Algernon Charles Swinburne, titled "Death and Birth", represents a masterful exploration of classic. The lines capture a profound emotional resonance... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

Attribution & Rights

Author:Algernon Charles Swinburne

"Death and birth should dwell not near together:..." by Algernon Charles Swinburne

For usage rights, copyright concerns, or to report an issue with this content, please visit our Copyright & Report page.

Related lines

"I.     Is the sound a trumpet blown, or a bell for burial tolled,     Whence the whole air vibrates now to the clash of words like swords     Let"

"Kind, wise, and true as truth's own heart,     A soul that here     Chose and held fast the better part     And cast out fear,     Has left us"

"I     Out of hell a word comes hissing, dark as doom,     Fierce as fire, and foul as plague-polluted gloom;     Out of hell wherein the sinless da"

"A faint sea without wind or sun;     A sky like flameless vapour dun;     A valley like an unsealed grave     That no man cares to weep upon,"

"Here morning in the ploughman's songs is met     Ere yet one footstep shows in all the sky,     And twilight in the east, a doubt as yet,     S"

"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

Algernon Charles Swinburne

About Algernon Charles Swinburne

Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) was an English poet known for metrical innovation and bold themes. His "Atalanta in Calydon" and "Poems and Ballads" challenged Victorian conventions with their musical intensity and controversial subject matter.

Full Bibliography
Continue Reading

"I.     Is the sound a trumpet blown, or a bell for..."

Weekly Poetic Insight

Join our literary Sanctuary

Get the most inspiring lines, poetic analysis, and secret shayaris delivered to your inbox every Sunday.