{"id":"01KG8AJKEMP8M1ENR7TCAJ5P7G","cid":"bafkreieynha6vuxtkf43mmggbyuhblrf2j73akevafbfptgioxzk64yapm","type":"chapter","properties":{"description":"# DIRGE\n## Overview\n\"DIRGE\" is a chapter within the poetry collection \"[John Marr and Other Poems](arke:01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H)\". It is a poem extracted from the file \"[john_marr_and_other_poems.txt](arke:01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4)\" and is part of the larger \"[Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW)\" collection. This chapter follows \"[POEMS FROM CLAREL](arke:01KG8AJKEHA0QEQ9JNNJD7P6CT)\" and precedes \"[EPILOGUE](arke:01KG8AJKEM1B9GENQ5GHACHPK1)\".\n\n## Context\nThis poem is a component of \"[John Marr and Other Poems](arke:01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H)\", a collection of poetry. The collection itself is part of the comprehensive \"[Melville Complete Works](arke:01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW)\". The text was originally contained within the file \"[john_marr_and_other_poems.txt](arke:01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4)\".\n\n## Contents\nThe chapter contains the poem titled \"DIRGE\". The poem is a plea to Death, asking it to gently guide a departed soul, referred to as \"her,\" to a peaceful afterlife. It describes a desire for her to avoid the underworld (\"Orcus\") and instead be led to a serene, moonlit land where she can await reunion with her lover. The poem suggests that if Death's shadow must fall upon her, it should only be as a gentle shade cast by a palm tree in a moonlit glade.","description_generated_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:09.574Z","description_model":"gemini-2.5-flash-lite","description_title":"DIRGE","end_line":3966,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:32.310Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"DIRGE","source_file":"01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4","start_line":3941,"text":"DIRGE\r\n\r\n\r\nStay, Death, Not mine the Christus-wand\r\nWherewith to charge thee and command:\r\nI plead. Most gently hold the hand\r\nOf her thou leadest far away;\r\nFear thou to let her naked feet\r\nTread ashes—but let mosses sweet\r\nHer footing tempt, where’er ye stray.\r\nShun Orcus; win the moonlit land\r\nBelulled—the silent meadows lone,\r\nWhere never any leaf is blown\r\nFrom lily-stem in Azrael’s hand.\r\nThere, till her love rejoin her lowly\r\n(Pensive, a shade, but all her own)\r\nOn honey feed her, wild and holy;\r\nOr trance her with thy choicest charm.\r\nAnd if, ere yet the lover’s free,\r\nSome added dusk thy rule decree—\r\nThat shadow only let it be\r\nThrown in the moon-glade by the palm.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"DIRGE"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJ5CWVMSM9AY2938E996H","peer_type":"poetry_collection","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J19Y3FNVN5KWASY78BP4","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AJKEHA0QEQ9JNNJD7P6CT","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AJKEM1B9GENQ5GHACHPK1","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"next"}],"ver":3,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:47:36.916Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:09.844Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF5C36SQEVDHC9CBNZZJH9K"}}