Totentanz
—verse inspired by the 17th century death-cycle paintings
preserved on the Spreuerbrüch Bridge in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Death falls upon us like a rain from hell;
Its smirking lurking shadow sparing none.
For neither cleric, king nor serf can tell
If life shall last or end ere day is done.
The plowman turns his field and plants his seed;
The grain in turn sustains both lord and knave.
With honeyed pot they revel in their mead
And stagger blindly blithely to their grave.
The cradled infant cold and lifeless lies;
The king abed expires his final breath;
The knight in battle pierced and broken, dies;
The newly-bedded bride embraces death.
Awhile the reaper harvests with his scythe;
His fleshless outstretched bony finger taunts
As spinning, grinning, mocking demons writhe
Their endless danse macabre: Totentanz.
Totentanz: Dance of Death
James A. Tweedie is a retired pastor living in Long Beach, Washington. He has written and published six novels, one collection of short stories, and four collections of poetry including Sidekicks, Mostly Sonnets, and Laughing Matters, all with Dunecrest Press. His poems have been published nationally and internationally in both print and online media. He was honored with being chosen as the winner of the 2021 SCP International Poetry Competition.
James, this would make a great poem for “The Day of the Dead” in Latin culture. Very descriptive and chilling.
This is a nice set of quatrains — clear diction, perfect meter, solid rhyming. I like the use of the antique form “Awhile” as the starting adverb in the last quatrain. Also, the use of monosyllabic words (in the first and fourth lines of the first quatrain) adds a heaviness and finality that suit the subject matter.
The Dance of Death doesn’t become a prominent part of European iconography until the coming of the Black Death pandemic in the 14th century. After that, it dominates much of pictorial art.