The dead man walking is a poem of psychological realism by Thomas Hardy I read last semester that humbled me and gave me a perspective to live more and breathe more. The first time I read the title, I was intrigued by the imagination of a dead man walking and thought it might be about a zombie or ghost. But how wrong was I not cherishing the metaphysical thoughts behind this masterpiece that consumes the emotions of a man who is physically alive but emotionally and mentally dead?