II: Waiting
July 6, 2023I gave my Heart …….
July 6, 2023I: Enter Patient
The morning mists still haunt the stony street;
The northern summer air is shrill and cold;
And lo, the Hospital, grey, quiet, old,
Where Life and Death like friendly chafferers meet.
Thro’ the loud spaciousness and draughty gloom
A small, strange child–so aged yet so young! –
Her little arm besplinted and beslung,
Precedes me gravely to the waiting-room.
I limp behind, my confidence all gone.
The grey-haired soldier-porter waves me on,
And on I crawl, and still my spirits fail:
A tragic meanness seems so to environ
These corridors and stairs of stone and iron,
Cold, naked, clean–half-workhouse and half-jail.
William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) was an English poet, critic and editor, best known for his poem "Invictus." Henley's poetry often dealt with themes of struggle and adversity, drawing on his own experiences of illness and disability. He was a major figure in the English literary scene of the late 19th century, and his most famous works include "The Song of the Sword" and "London Types."