“This was Mr Bleaney’s room. He stayed The whole time he was at the Bodies, till They moved him.” Flowered curtains, thin and frayed, Fall to within five inches of…

Once I am sure there’s nothing going on I step inside, letting the door thud shut. Another church: matting, seats, and stone, And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut For…

That Whitsun, I was late getting away:     Not till about One-twenty on the sunlit Saturday Did my three-quarters-empty train pull out, All windows down, all cushions hot, all sense Of…

“Dockery was junior to you, Wasn’t he?” said the Dean. “His son’s here now.” Death-suited, visitant, I nod. “And do You keep in touch with -” Or remember how Black-gowned,…

‘Of course I was drugged, and so heavily I did not regain consciousness until the next morning. I was horrified to discover that I had been ruined, and for some…

I’ve paid for your sickest fancies; I’ve humoured your crackedest whim – Dick, it’s your daddy, dying; you’ve got to listen to him! Good for a fortnight, am I? The…

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the…

Miss Helen Slingsby was my maiden aunt, And lived in a small house near a fashionable square Cared for by servants to the number of four. Now when she died…

[excerpts] from Book I What though the field be lost? All is not lost; the unconquerable will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield:…

S’io credessi che mia risposta fosse A persona che mai tornasse al mondo, Questa fiamma staria senza più scosse. Ma per ció che giammai di questo fondo Non tornó viva…

II. A Game of Chess     The Chair she sat in, like a burnished throne, Glowed on the marble, where the glass Held up by standards wrought with fruited vines From…