quote · Legacy record
In the old times Death was a feverish sleep, In which men walked. The other world was cold And thinly-peopled, so life’s emigrants Came back to mingle with the crowds of earth: But now great cities are transplanted thither, Memphis, and Babylon, and either Thebes, And Priam’s towery town with its one beech. The dead are most and merriest: so be sure There will be no more haunting, till their towns Are full to the garret; then they’ll shut their gates, To keep the living out, and perhaps leave A dead or two between both kingdoms.
In the old times Death was a feverish sleep, In which men walked. The other world was cold And thinly-peopled, so life’s emigrants Came back to mingle with the crowds of earth: But now great cities are transplanted thither, Memphis, and Babylon, and either Thebes, And Priam’s towery town with its one beech. The dead are most and merriest: so be sure There will be no more haunting, till their towns Are full to the garret; then they’ll shut their gates, To keep the living out, and perhaps leave A dead or two between both kingdoms.
In print by 1921 AD · modern
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- T. L. Beddoes (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1921 AD · modern
In print by 1921: recorded in My Commonplace Book (third English edition,1921). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- My Commonplace Book (third English edition,1921) (1921 AD)
Page 262 · printed citation: T. L. Beddoes (Death’s Jest-Book, III, 3). · compiler notes excluded
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.