A single Screw of Flesh
Is all that pins the Soul
That stands for Deity, to Mine,
Upon my side the Veil —
Once witnessed of the Gauze —
Its name is put away
As far from mine, as if no plight
Had printed yesterday,
In tender — solemn Alphabet,
My eyes just turned to see,
When it was smuggled by my sight
Into Eternity —
More Hands — to hold — These are but Two —
One more new-mailed Nerve
Just granted, for the Peril’s sake —
Some striding — Giant — Love —
So greater than the Gods can show,
They slink before the Clay,
That not for all their Heaven can boast
Will let its Keepsake — go
Mourning at a deathbed?
This poem seems to me to be about the relationship of the physical body to the spiritual–the soul. The physical body is an important “keepsake” while the soul is the “Deity”–the divine within each of us.