The speaker is a chorus of worms, speaking from the grave. They announce that they are bringing Badroulbadour—a fairy-tale princess’s name—out of the tomb, and that their bellies act as her chariot. Then they present her body piece by piece: an eye, lashes, lid, cheek, hand, lips, and finally “the bundle of the body and the feet.” Their tone is not gloating or horrified. It sounds almost tender and ceremonial, as if they are her attendants rather than scavengers. The repeated opening line gives the whole thing the feel of a chant or procession. The mood is quiet, eerie, and strangely reverent. Decay becomes a kind of dark resurrection: the worms do not just destroy Badroulbadour; they carry her back into the world, turning the buried body into something that moves again.
The Worms at Heaven’s Gate — Summary
Out of the tomb, we bring Badroulbadour, Within our bellies, we her chariot. Here is an eye. And here are, one by one, The lashes of that eye and its white lid. Here is the cheek on which that lid declined, And, finger after finger, here, the hand, The genius of that cheek. Here are the lips, The bundle of the body and the feet.
Out of the tomb we bring Badroulbadour.