to the one i love,
and the ones who loved me


When I Am Dead, My Dearest

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.

      -- Chirstina Georgina Rossetti

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Revised Monday April 07, 1997 15:50 PDT
mayhuang@uclink2.berkeley.edu