Dance Of Death

Franz Werfel 1890 (Prague) – 1945 (Manhattan)



Death has taken me out for a swing.
At first I didn't drop from the quickstep
In his dance and clogged right along
Until he drove the tempo up.

How swiftly was I pulled into being
The jumping jack, the dancing chicken,
Becoming nothing but a scream to God
With no hope of what He was thinking.

Then Death lifted me up high and spun me
Into the sky so God would be pleased with him,
For he doesn't take what God doesn't give.

But suddenly he let his catch fall,
For in the alphabet of the first silence,
God has just two words for him: Not today!

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

33 sec read
126

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXB AXXA XXX XXX
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 540
Words 110
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 3, 3

Franz Werfel

Franz Viktor Werfel was an Austrian-Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. more…

All Franz Werfel poems | Franz Werfel Books

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