Gilgamesh

For six days I would not let him be buried,
thinking, "If my grief is violent enough,
perhaps he will come back to life again."
For six days and seven nights I mourned him,
until a maggot fell out of his nose.
Then I was frightened, I was terrified of death....

from Gilgamesh, A New English Version
translated by Stephen Mitchell
Free Press, 2004