101 Poems, Number 19

Favorite Poems Throughout My Life

19: “Reuben Bright,” 1897, by Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869–1935)

A sonnet from the quiet man—

That’s Robinson—withdrawn and shy—

Who wrote as well as humans can—

Then, realizing he must die,

He worked on poems in his bed—

The hospital where he would pass—

And used his verse to battle dread

That comes despite all age and class.

And dread is at the very heart

Of this, his sonnet showing death.

A man who’s told that he must part

From love itself—his lover’s breath.

His wife is dying, and he knows

That nothing can remain the same,

And so this artful sonnet shows

Why all should know this poet’s name!

Link to poem.