For my brother, Ronnie

by Dylan Thomas

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead men naked they shall be one
With the man in the wind and the west moon;
When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,
They shall have stars at elbow and foot;
Though they go mad they shall be sane,
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again;
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.

   And death shall have no dominion.
   Under the windings of the sea
   They lying long shall not die windily;
   Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
   Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
   Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
   And the unicorn evils run them through;
   Split all ends up they shan't crack;
   And death shall have no dominion.

   And death shall have no dominion.
   No more may gulls cry at their ears
   Or waves break loud on the seashores;
   Where blew a flower may a flower no more
   Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
   Though they be mad and dead as nails,
   Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
   Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
   And death shall have no dominion.
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Up all night if I need to be Ronnie

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