Thanks for all these comments! Some disjointed thoughts:
I hesitated to scan Smile, Death, and now I know why - it's beyond my level.
David, when you get the Collected, please let me know if I did the spacing right on these poems?
That Herve story is interesting. I can imagine Herve and Charlotte had much in common. Surrounded by unkind faces, wishing for a smile or kind eyes.
I'd like to know if "come" had the same connotation for Charlotte that it has for us. Somehow I doubt it.
Perhaps the personification of death is like the personification of absence, as in this poem by Mew. I still don't think Smile, Death is a love poem or about weariness. I think her personification of death/absence is a longing for life and understanding.
Absence
Sometimes I know the way
......You walk, up over the bay;
It is a wind from the far sea
That blows the fragrance of your hair to me.
Or in this garden when the breeze
......Touches my trees
To stir their dreaming shadows on the grass
......I see you pass.
In sheltered beds, the heart of every rose
......Serenely sleeps to-night. As shut as those
Your guarded heart; as safe as they from the beat, beat
Of hooves that tread dropped roses in the street.
......Turn never again
......On these eyes blind with a wild rain
Your eyes; they were stars to me.--
......There are things stars may not see.
But call, call, and though Christ stands
......Still with scarred hands
Over my mouth, I must answer. So
I will come--He shall let me go!
[This message has been edited by Mary Meriam (edited December 22, 2007).]
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