I had a bitter enemy,
His heart to hate he gave,
And when I died he swore that he
Would dance upon my grave;
That he would leap and laugh because
A livid corpse was I,
And that’s the reason why I was
In no great haste to die.
And then – such is the quirk of fate,
One day with joy I read,
Despite his vitalizing hate
My enemy was dead.
Maybe the poison in his heart
Had helped to haste his doom:
He was not spared till I depart
To spit upon my tomb.
The other day I chanced to go
To where he lies alone.
‘Tis easy to forgive a foe
When he is dead and gone. . . .
Poor devil! Now his day is done,
(Though bright it was and brave,)
Yet I am happy there is none
To dance upon my grave.
Can help analysise this poem?
What is this poem about, the pupose.
And how do you feel about the poem?
thank you
Robert Service wrote about the Klondike and the people who suffered through the harsh winters while searching for gold. This poem shows human nature at work as he speaks about a bitter enemy that he really didn’t hate, but didn’t want to beat to the grave so that he (the enemy) could dance upon it. It’s a case of "better you than I"…or a victory by default. He actually admired his enemy, but he’s still happy that his enemy died first so that he didn’t have to endure the shame of having his enemy dance upon his grave…even though he isn’t dancing on his enemy’s grave. He also speculates that perhaps it was the poison of his enemy’s heart that did him in, that his hate brought on his early demise. How do I feel about the poem? I feel human…I understand exactly the emotions involved here…where you don’t choose your enemies at times, nor do you understand or share their hate, and although you don’t wish them harm, if harm should come to them, you simply say, "better them than me".
It is easier to face a foe when the threat is no longer there..
And interesting plots revealed in poetry to share!
The characters have each one some strength …
If I may be so bold!
To write a poem such as this…takes chilling blood and kin of
Such that deal with getting old!
I love it! it has a very light-hearted feeling. The moral seems to be that in the end, theres no need for hate. Death is the great equalizer. And clearly the speaker did not share the same bitterness as his "enemy". The part about the "poison in his heart" being the cause of death kind of says that
life is too short for hatred, and even shorter if devoted to it.