Play Not a Dirge When I Am Gone
Play Not A Dirge When I Am Gone
Play not a dirge when I am gone;
light no candles, not even one.
A treasured poem would be enough
to mark my end when curtain’s drawn.
Hold no sad wakes to honor me
some happy poems, I’d rather be
recited on a night for friends
then spread my ashes o'er the sea.
And wonder not nor be afraid
if less of love you have conveyed;
you’re part of me and that’s enough,
while life’s not fair, I’m not dismayed.
If comes a time that you remember
that one fine day in November,
then send a kiss toward the sea
and just forget this fly in amber.*
When I Am Dead My Dearest
by Cristina Georgina Rossetti
When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.
I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.
*fly in amber - noun, reminder of the past
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