In “Parted,” W. H. Davies turns loss into a small, mournful fable. A flower withers to a stalk overnight because the bee that stayed with her has gone, even though he was away only a single night. Another flower dresses herself in her best, hoping her bee will come, but he is dying in his hive that very day. The speaker’s grief spills into an old-fashioned cry—“Alack for life!”—that sounds both tender and helpless. The poem laments how death, unlike love, strikes only one heart at a time, leaving the other behind to ache. The mood is fragile and sorrowful, like watching something lovely wilt before your eyes. In the end, the speaker imagines that if death could pierce two lovers together, no one would need to cry out against life at all.
Parted — Summary
Alack for life! Worn to a stalk since yesterday Is the flower with whom the bee did stay, And he was but one night away. Alack for life, I say.
Alack for life! A flower put on her fine array, In hopes a bee would come her way, Who's dying in his hive this day. Alack for life, I say.
Alack for life! If Death like Love would throw his dart And pierce at once a double heart. And not to strike away one part — Alack for life, who'd say?