!DOCTYPE html> html> head lang=”en-US”> title>Houses by A. S. J. Tessimond/title> /div> h1 class=”pageTitle”>Houses/h1> div class=”entry-content clearfix”> h2 class=”author”>by A. S. J. Tessimond/h2> div id=”content”> p>People who are afraid of themselvesbr /> Multiply themselves into familiesbr /> And so divide themselvesbr /> And so become less afraid./p> p>People who might have to go outbr /> Into clanging strangers’ laughter,br /> Crowd under roofs, make compactsbr /> To no more than smile at each other./p> p>People who might meet their own facesbr /> Or surprise their own voices in doorwaysbr /> Build themselves rooms without mirrorsbr /> And live between walls without echoes./p> p>People who might meet other facesbr /> And unknown voices round cornersbr /> Build themselves rooms all mirrorsbr /> And live between walls all echoes./p> p>People who are afraid to go nakedbr /> Clothe themselves in families, houses,br /> But are still afraid of deathbr /> Because death one day will undress them./p>/div> p>br /> br> /body> /html>
Arthur Seymour John Tessimond (1902 -1962) was an English poet. He had a tumultuous childhood, ran from boarding school, went to work, somehow attended the University of Liverpool, avoided service in WWI and then discovered that he is unfit for military service after he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which in those days was known as manic depression. A.S. Tessimond is a wonderful poet though maybe somewhat underappreciated poet. He died from in 1962 from a brain haemorrhage.