Poem by Alfred Edward Housman

A Shropshire Lad. 33. If Truth in Hearts that Perish

If truth in hearts that perish
   Could move the powers on high,
I think the love I bear you
   Should make you not to die.

Sure, sure, if stedfast meaning,
   If single thought could save,
The world might end to-morrow,
   You should not see the grave.

This long and sure-set liking,
   This boundless will to please,
--Oh, you should live for ever,
   If there were help in these.

But now, since all is idle,
   To this lost heart be kind,
Ere to a town you journey
   Where friends are ill to find. 

1. More Poems. 11. The Rainy Pleiads Wester
2. More Poems. 15. Tarry, Delight; so Seldom Met
3. Last Poems. 11. Yonder See the Morning Blink
4. More Poems. 25. Yon Flakes that Fret the Eastern Sky
5. Additional Poems. 14. Oh Is It the Jar of Nations

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