What is down?

Famous quotes containing the word down:

    The waves have now a redder glow—
    The hours are breathing faint and low—
    And when, amid no earthly moans,
    Down, down that town shall settle hence,
    Hell, rising from a thousand thrones,
    Shall do it reverence.
    Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)

    Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
    Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
    Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
    I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.
    Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)

    She has taken her passive pigeon poor,
    She has buried him down and down.
    He never shall sally to Sally
    Nor soil any roofs of the town.
    Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)