IV. DEATH BY WATER

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Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,

Forgot the cry of gulls, and the dead sea swell

And the profit and loss.

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                                   A current under sea

Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell

He passed the stages of his age and youth

Entering the whirlpool.

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                                  Gentile or Jew

O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,

Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and 

tall as you