Original artwork, not a still
The Ballad of Reading Gaol • 1898
Yet each man kills the thing he loves, By each let this be heard, Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word, The koward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The verses describe different ways of destroying what one loves, including a look, a flattering word, a kiss and a sword. The contrast makes apparently gentle actions part of the same disturbing claim. Readable archived spelling remains.
Context reviewed
