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Elizabeth Akers Allen - Until Death

2014-06-24 32 Dailymotion

Make me no vows of constancy, dear friend, <br />To love me, though I die, thy whole life long, <br />And love no other till thy days shall end - <br />Nay, it were rash and wrong. <br /> <br />If thou canst love another, be it so; <br />I would not reach out of my quiet grave <br />To bind thy heart, if it should choose to go - <br />Love should not be a slave. <br /> <br />My placid ghost, I trust, will walk serene <br />In clearer light than gilds those earthly morns, <br />Above the jealousies and envies keen, <br />Which sow this life with thorns. <br /> <br />Thou wouldst not feel my shadowy caress; <br />If, after death, my soul should linger here; <br />Men's hearts crave tangible, close tenderness, <br />Love's presence, warm and near. <br /> <br />It would not make me sleep more peacefully <br />That thou wert wasting all thy life in woe <br />For my poor sake; what love thou hast for me, <br />Bestow it ere I go. <br /> <br />Carve not upon a stone when I am dead <br />The praises which remorseful mourners give <br />To women's graves - a tardy recompense - <br />But speak them while I live. <br /> <br />Heap not the heavy marble o'er my head <br />To shut away the sunshine and the dew; <br />Let small blooms grow there, and let grasses wave, <br />And raindrops filter through. <br /> <br />Thou wilt meet many fairer and more gay <br />Than I; but, trust me, thou canst never find <br />One who will love and serve thee night and day <br />With a more single mind. <br /> <br />Forget me when I die! The violets <br />Above my breast will blossom just as blue, <br />Nor miss thy tears; e'en nature's self forgets; <br />But while I live, be true.<br /><br />Elizabeth Akers Allen<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/until-death-3/

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