Testament

by Sara Teasdale

I said, I will take my life
And throw it away;
I who was fire and song
Will turn to clay.

I will lie no more in the night
With shaken breath,
I will toss my heart in the air
To be caught by Death.

But out of the night I heard,
Like the inland sound of the sea,
The hushed and terrible sob
Of all humanity.

Then I said, Oh who am I
To scorn God to his face?
I will bow my head and stay
And suffer with my race.

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