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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


WHEN I AM DEAD by LOUISE CHANDLER MOULTON

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN I AM DEAD AND BURIED UNDERGROUND
Last Line: HOW COULD I HEAR, OR HEED, IF I WERE DEAD?
Subject(s): DEATH; DEAD, THE;

WHEN I am dead and buried underground,
And your dear eyes still greet the shining day,
Will you remember -- "Thus she used to say --
And thus, and thus, her low voice used to sound"?
Will memory wander like a ghost around
The well-known paths -- tread the accustomed way;
Or will you pluck fresh blossoms of the May,
And waste no rose upon my burial mound?

I would not have your life to sorrow wed --
Your joyous youth grief-stricken for my sake; --
Though black-winged Care her home with you should make,
Yet vain would be the scalding tears you shed;
And though your heart for love of me should break,
How could I hear, or heed, if I were dead?




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