THE two were silent in a sunless church, <br /> Whose mildewed walls, uneven paving-stones, <br /> And wasted carvings passed antique research; <br /> And nothing broke the clock's dull monotones. <br /> <br /> Leaning against a wormy poppy-head, <br /> So wan and worn that he could scarcely stand, <br /> --For he was soon to die,--he softly said, <br /> "Tell me you love me!"--holding hard her hand. <br /> <br /> She would have given a world to breathe "yes" truly, <br /> So much his life seemed hanging on her mind, <br /> And hence she lied, her heart persuaded throughly, <br /> 'Twas worth her soul to be a moment kind. <br /> <br /> But the sad need thereof, his nearing death, <br /> So mocked humanity that she shamed to prize <br /> A world conditioned thus, or care for breath <br /> Where Nature such dilemmas could devise.<br /><br />Thomas Hardy<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/her-dilemma/
