New England Diary

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Rise and freeze


In the cold I will rise, I will bathe

In waters of ice; myself

Will shiver, and shrive myself,

Alone in the dawn, and anoint

Forehead and feet and hands;

I will shutter the windows from light,

I will place in their sockets the four

Tall candles and set them a-flame

In the gray of the dawn; and myself

Will lay myself straight in my bed,

And draw the sheet under my chin.


β€” β€œThe Lonely Death,’’ by Adelaide Crapsey (1878-1914)