The Death of a Soldier

"The Death of a Soldier" is a poem by Wallace Stevens. It is among those added to the 1931 reissue of Stevens' first collection Harmonium (New York: Knopf, 1923). The poem was originally part of the unpublished Lettres d'un Soldat (1914–1915). The poem uses free verse to describe the death of a soldier.

The Death of a Soldier

 Life contracts and death is expected,
 As in a season of autumn.
 The soldier falls.

 He does not become a three-days personage,
 Imposing his separation,
 Calling for pomp.

 Death is absolute and without memorial,
 As in a season of autumn,
 When the wind stops,

 When the wind stops and, over the heavens,
 The clouds go, nevertheless,
 In their direction.

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