Masses by César Vallejo

At the end of the battle,
and the combatant dead, a man came unto him
and said ‘Do not die, I love you so much!’
But the corpse, alas, kept on dying.

Two men approached and repeated:
‘Do not leave us! Be brave! Come back to life!’
But the corpse, alas, kept on dying.

Twenty, a hundred, a thousand, half a million came toward him,
shouting: ‘So much love, and nothing can be done against death!’
But the corpse, alas, kept on dying.

Millions of people surrounded him,
with one common plea: ‘Stay here, brother!’
But the corpse, alas, kept on dying.

Then, all the men of the earth
surrounded him; moved, the sad corpse looked at them;
he rose up slowly,
embraced the first man; started to walk . . .

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/30