A Question

Arthur Henry Adams 1872 (Lawrence) – 1936 (Sydney, New South Wales)



AND so in the death-darkened chamber they met,
 The woman that once he had loved and the one he loved yet—
 The wife who had warped his desire and the woman he could not forget.  
  They stood by the bier where between them he slept,
 And the love he had lost in his wife to her swimming eyes leapt;
 But the woman his life had belonged to—his paramour—spoke not nor wept.  
  It was only a story of sated desire—
 Of a love merely sensual burnt to an ash by its fire,
 And a husband who turned to a more luscious love that was his for the hire.  
  All had sinned. For the husband had killed by his clutch,
 Rough-handed, the fruit of a love that had dropped at his touch.
 One woman's great sin was not loving, his wife's was in loving too much.  
 
  And so he had died; it was over at last;
 And across him the two women looked at each other aghast—
 Across his cold corse, and across the cold corse of the loathsome dead Past!  
  Then the smouldering love of the wife leapt to flame,
 And she poured forth her kisses upon him, and called on his name.
 But the other said “No, he is nothing to you; soul and body  I  claim!”  
  They looked at each other awhile. Said the wife wearily,
 “He is mine; for I loved him, and ever shall love him; let be!”
 But the other sneered, “No, he is mine, and mine only, because he loved me!”  
  Then the two laid their hands on the body between;
 And fought for it, wife against paramour, fiercely, unseen—
 For the body diseased and polluted, as ever his spirit had been.  
  And this is a question for answer in Hell:
 To which of the two did his spirit belong, can you tell?
 Think, was it the woman he loved, or the one who had loved him too well?

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

1:39 min read
130

Quick analysis:

Scheme AAABBBCCCDDD EEEFFFGGGHHXIII
Closest metre Iambic heptameter
Characters 1,717
Words 329
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 12, 15

Arthur Henry Adams

Arthur Henry Adams was a journalist and author. He started his career in New Zealand, though he spent most of it in Australia, and for a short time lived in China and London.  more…

All Arthur Henry Adams poems | Arthur Henry Adams Books

0 fans

Discuss the poem A Question with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "A Question" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/3809/a-question>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    14
    hours
    12
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who is credited with creating the first poetry slam event?
    A Victor Hugo
    B Grand corps Malade
    C Kerry James
    D Marc Smith