Raw JSON
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"source_sha256": "48678a6509601dbacce2b2b9b3888e6724ed14e2fc6df6c390d72882ebd7fb29",
"source_title": "The Poor Ghost",
"tts_title": "The Poor Ghost",
"kind": "story",
"canonical_url": "https://ririro.com/poems/the-poor-ghost/",
"slug": "the-poor-ghost",
"story_dirname": "poems--the-poor-ghost",
"section_slug": "poems",
"title": "The Poor Ghost",
"author": null,
"publisher_label": "Ririro",
"source_version": "unknown",
"content_type": "poem",
"language": "en",
"summary": "A mournful dialogue between a grieving lover and a returned dead beloved explores the painful limits of love confronted by death: the living begs for more time, clinging to warmth and memory, while the pale, dripping figure from “the other world” acknowledges love still exists but insists that life has ended and cannot be repaired. Through images of uncurled locks, a violet planted at the grave, a bed “roofed in with a load of lead,” and the hollow sea, the poem contrasts tender remembrance with the physical finality of burial and the eerie calm of the departed, who asks to be left to sleep until Judgment Day. The exchange ultimately exposes the human urge to resist loss, the stubborn persistence of affection, and the inevitability and loneliness of death that forces acceptance.",
"clean_summary": "A mournful dialogue between a grieving lover and a returned dead beloved explores the painful limits of love confronted by death: the living begs for more time, clinging to warmth and memory, while the pale, dripping figure from \"the other world\" acknowledges love still exists but insists that life has ended and cannot be repaired. Through images of uncurled locks, a violet planted at the grave, a bed \"roofed in with a load of lead,\" and the hollow sea, the poem contrasts tender remembrance with the physical finality of burial and the eerie calm of the departed, who asks to be left to sleep until Judgment Day. The exchange ultimately exposes the human urge to resist loss, the stubborn persistence of affection, and the inevitability and loneliness of death that forces acceptance.",
"body": [
"‘Oh whence do you come, my dear friend, to me, With your golden hair all fallen below your knee, And your face as white as snowdrops on the lea, And your voice as hollow as the hollow sea?’",
"‘From the other world I come back to you: My locks are uncurled with dripping drenching dew, You know the old, whilst I know the new: But to-morrow you shall know this too.’",
"‘Oh not to-morrow into the dark, I pray; Oh not to-morrow, too soon to go away: Here I feel warm and well-content and gay: Give me another year, another day.’",
"‘Am I so changed in a day and a night That mine own only love shrinks from me with fright, Is fain to turn away to left or right And cover up his eyes from the sight?’",
"‘Indeed I loved you, my chosen friend, I loved you for life, but life has an end; Through sickness I was ready to tend: But death mars all, which we cannot mend.",
"‘Indeed I loved you; I love you yet, If you will stay where your bed is set, Where I have planted a violet, Which the wind waves, which the dew makes wet.’",
"‘Life is gone, then love too is gone, It was a reed that I leant upon: Never doubt I will leave you alone And not wake you rattling bone with bone.",
"‘I go home alone to my bed, Dug deep at the foot and deep at the head, Roofed in with a load of lead, Warm enough for the forgotten dead.",
"‘But why did your tears soak through the clay, And why did your sobs wake me where I lay? I was away, far enough away: Let me sleep now till the Judgment Day.’"
],
"body_text": "‘Oh whence do you come, my dear friend, to me, With your golden hair all fallen below your knee, And your face as white as snowdrops on the lea, And your voice as hollow as the hollow sea?’\n\n‘From the other world I come back to you: My locks are uncurled with dripping drenching dew, You know the old, whilst I know the new: But to-morrow you shall know this too.’\n\n‘Oh not to-morrow into the dark, I pray; Oh not to-morrow, too soon to go away: Here I feel warm and well-content and gay: Give me another year, another day.’\n\n‘Am I so changed in a day and a night That mine own only love shrinks from me with fright, Is fain to turn away to left or right And cover up his eyes from the sight?’\n\n‘Indeed I loved you, my chosen friend, I loved you for life, but life has an end; Through sickness I was ready to tend: But death mars all, which we cannot mend.\n\n‘Indeed I loved you; I love you yet, If you will stay where your bed is set, Where I have planted a violet, Which the wind waves, which the dew makes wet.’\n\n‘Life is gone, then love too is gone, It was a reed that I leant upon: Never doubt I will leave you alone And not wake you rattling bone with bone.\n\n‘I go home alone to my bed, Dug deep at the foot and deep at the head, Roofed in with a load of lead, Warm enough for the forgotten dead.\n\n‘But why did your tears soak through the clay, And why did your sobs wake me where I lay? I was away, far enough away: Let me sleep now till the Judgment Day.’",
"clean_body": [
"'Oh whence do you come, my dear friend, to me, With your golden hair all fallen below your knee, And your face as white as snowdrops on the lea, And your voice as hollow as the hollow sea?'",
"'From the other world I come back to you: My locks are uncurled with dripping drenching dew, You know the old, whilst I know the new: But to-morrow you shall know this too.'",
"'Oh not to-morrow into the dark, I pray; Oh not to-morrow, too soon to go away: Here I feel warm and well-content and gay: Give me another year, another day.'",
"'Am I so changed in a day and a night That mine own only love shrinks from me with fright, Is fain to turn away to left or right And cover up his eyes from the sight?'",
"'Indeed I loved you, my chosen friend, I loved you for life, but life has an end; Through sickness I was ready to tend: But death mars all, which we cannot mend.",
"'Indeed I loved you; I love you yet, If you will stay where your bed is set, Where I have planted a violet, Which the wind waves, which the dew makes wet.'",
"'Life is gone, then love too is gone, It was a reed that I leant upon: Never doubt I will leave you alone And not wake you rattling bone with bone.",
"'I go home alone to my bed, Dug deep at the foot and deep at the head, Roofed in with a load of lead, Warm enough for the forgotten dead.",
"'But why did your tears soak through the clay, And why did your sobs wake me where I lay? I was away, far enough away: Let me sleep now till the Judgment Day.'"
],
"clean_text": "'Oh whence do you come, my dear friend, to me, With your golden hair all fallen below your knee, And your face as white as snowdrops on the lea, And your voice as hollow as the hollow sea?'\n\n'From the other world I come back to you: My locks are uncurled with dripping drenching dew, You know the old, whilst I know the new: But to-morrow you shall know this too.'\n\n'Oh not to-morrow into the dark, I pray; Oh not to-morrow, too soon to go away: Here I feel warm and well-content and gay: Give me another year, another day.'\n\n'Am I so changed in a day and a night That mine own only love shrinks from me with fright, Is fain to turn away to left or right And cover up his eyes from the sight?'\n\n'Indeed I loved you, my chosen friend, I loved you for life, but life has an end; Through sickness I was ready to tend: But death mars all, which we cannot mend.\n\n'Indeed I loved you; I love you yet, If you will stay where your bed is set, Where I have planted a violet, Which the wind waves, which the dew makes wet.'\n\n'Life is gone, then love too is gone, It was a reed that I leant upon: Never doubt I will leave you alone And not wake you rattling bone with bone.\n\n'I go home alone to my bed, Dug deep at the foot and deep at the head, Roofed in with a load of lead, Warm enough for the forgotten dead.\n\n'But why did your tears soak through the clay, And why did your sobs wake me where I lay? I was away, far enough away: Let me sleep now till the Judgment Day.'",
"tts_chunks": [
"'Oh whence do you come, my dear friend, to me, With your golden hair all fallen below your knee, And your face as white as snowdrops on the lea, And your voice as hollow as the hollow sea?'",
"'From the other world I come back to you: My locks are uncurled with dripping drenching dew, You know the old, whilst I know the new: But to-morrow you shall know this too.'",
"'Oh not to-morrow into the dark, I pray; Oh not to-morrow, too soon to go away: Here I feel warm and well-content and gay: Give me another year, another day.'",
"'Am I so changed in a day and a night That mine own only love shrinks from me with fright, Is fain to turn away to left or right And cover up his eyes from the sight?'",
"'Indeed I loved you, my chosen friend, I loved you for life, but life has an end; Through sickness I was ready to tend: But death mars all, which we cannot mend.",
"'Indeed I loved you; I love you yet, If you will stay where your bed is set, Where I have planted a violet, Which the wind waves, which the dew makes wet.'",
"'Life is gone, then love too is gone, It was a reed that I leant upon: Never doubt I will leave you alone And not wake you rattling bone with bone.",
"'I go home alone to my bed, Dug deep at the foot and deep at the head, Roofed in with a load of lead, Warm enough for the forgotten dead.",
"'But why did your tears soak through the clay, And why did your sobs wake me where I lay? I was away, far enough away: Let me sleep now till the Judgment Day.'"
],
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"slug": "christina-georgina-rossetti",
"title": "Christina Georgina Rossetti",
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