Song [When I am dead, my dearest]

Christina Rossetti 1830 (London) – 1894 (London)



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.
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Submitted by halel on July 15, 2020

Modified on April 29, 2023

26 sec read
41

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAXAABCB XDXDXBCB
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 456
Words 87
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 8, 8

Christina Rossetti

Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English poet who wrote various romantic, devotional, and children's poems. more…

All Christina Rossetti poems | Christina Rossetti Books

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