WHEN I AM DEAD, MY DEAREST

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,

     No 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.