Come Away, Come Away, Death

Come away, come away, death,

    And in sad cypress let me be laid.

Fly away, fly away, breath;

    I am slain by a fair cruel maid.

My shroud of white, stuck all with yew,

             O, prepare it!

My part of death, no one so true

         Did share it.

Not a flower, not a flower sweet,

    On my black coffin let there be strown.

Not a friend, not a friend greet

    My poor corpse, where my bones shall be thrown.

A thousand thousand sighs to save,

             Lay me, O, where

Sad true lover never find my grave,

             To weep there!

More About Come Away, Come Away, Death

Come Away, Come Away, Death is one of William Shakespeare’s most haunting lyrical poems, appearing as a song in his famous play Twelfth Night, or What You Will, first performed around 1601–1602. Unlike Shakespeare’s well-known sonnets, this poem is a lyric song written to be sung by the character Feste, the wise fool of the play. In this poem , the speaker expresses overwhelming sorrow after experiencing unreturned love and wishes for a quiet burial away from friends and mourners. Through vivid imagery of black coffins, white shrouds, cypress trees, and lonely graves, Shakespeare explores themes of heartbreak, mortality, despair, and the emotional pain caused by love. Although deeply melancholic, the poem showcases Shakespeare’s remarkable ability to transform grief into beautiful, musical verse. Today, the poem remains one of his most admired songs because of its emotional depth, lyrical beauty, and timeless portrayal of lost love, making it a favorite among readers, students of English literature, and lovers of classic poetry.

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