Wit of the Grave Digger

Universal wit of the ones that dig our graves.

From all nations of all time,

A wit, arcane, fills each one.

The men shovel stones and run,

The earth inside with rock lime.

 

At life's closing each corpse parts,

With the knowledge of closed eyes.

The face wrinkled with love and lies,

Each line endows the ways and arts,

 

Of Death's mystic well worn path,

Of which ev'ry man will take.

The grave digger for his  sake,

Learns the lesson which he hath,

 

The oath solemn at first sworn.

To put inside the wood box,

The hills around act as locks,

There in secret, hides his scorn,

 

With the deceased; they won't talk,

For all quiet days won't speak,

While all fluids through pores leak,

There they cannot rise to walk.

 

In death secrets are well kept,

This the knowledge they all know,

No man living lets trust go,

Til the list'ner has long slept.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Fixed the slight mistake in the second to last stanza and now I think it's good to go.

Reviews

[Janice Ann]

No don't change a thing! From beginning to end I couldn't stop reading the words in front of me!
"At life's closing each corpse parts,
With the knowledge of closed eyes.
The face wrinkled with love and lies,
Each line endows the ways and arts,"

Come on seriously awesome wording. Rocking read! Thanks for sharing!

[Shemena Campbell]

I love the rhythm of this, and read it out loud. This is superb, but all of your writing is. Amazing. Hope I can ever do as well.

[Brittany]

Interesting point of view. What struck me the most was the secrets and lies of the dead. Made me think of the line...he took his secrets to the grave. I liked your phrasing and the way the lines flowed. Nice job.

[Leslie Philibert]

Good poem, good structure, the theme made me think of the graveyard scene in Hamlet, good write.

[Robbie~xoxo~]

This is very intense... I truly felt the eerie voices from the grave, as secrets are kept, with their corpses.

"At life's closing each corpse parts,
With the knowledge of closed eyes.
The face wrinkled with love and lies,
Each line endows the ways and arts,"~ This second stanza really captivated me. Well penned!

[Sel Whiteley]

This is so well-rendered, so vivid and the sonics are fantastic. I adore the last stanza, it is very resonant.

[jen]

Dead men tell no tales :) Nicely written and it has me thinking that the dead speak silently more than the digger would like to acknowledge and the skill of the craft is in ignoring them.

[Bethany Woody]

Wonderful piece. The old school style and wording fit the subject matter to a T. I don't think it would have worked at all had you not given this that classical style. Modern language would have stripped away the whole point of the piece and it would have lost i's meaning altogether.
Praise for the effort and a job well done.

[Mockingbird]

insightful and thought-provoking. there are wisdom in these words. you must've seen your fair share of death; you've captured the essence of it profoundly. great job.

[Allison]

I love the last stanza! This is very powerful, and you chose amazing words. Good write!

[Zoe Jay]

Wow, this is absolutely gorgeous. Really classic style poetry, immaculately executed. I love the meter, it is not at all labored, flows beautifully, and doesn't miss a beat. It would be what, a septameter? :-) Very professionally done, very disciplined, and I have to say again, beautifully executed. The imagery is rich and the content heavy, and yet the piece has the irreverent, whimsical feel that one would expect from the title, and sense of peace and reconciliation and acceptance, with a twinkle at the world even while great wisdom is imparted. Almost Shakespearean in it's content and style, and that is a big style to live up to! I can't remember what the the original passage about the arcane wit of the gravedigger was, but I am guessing it was probably from Shakespeare... oops my literary recollection escapes me, I feel like a lemon here, but you know what I mean. This is perfectly in accord with the original sentiment and style. Can't praise this highly enough!