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Love Cannot Die

By John Clare

Topics: classic

In crime and enmity they lie     Who sin and tell us love can die,     Who say to us in slander's breath     That love belongs to sin and death.     From heaven it came on angel's wing     To bloom on earth, eternal spring;     In falsehood's enmity they lie     Who sin and tell us love can die.     Twas born upon an angel's breast.     The softest dreams, the sweetest rest,     The brightest sun, the bluest sky,     Are love's own home and canopy.     The thought that cheers this heart of mine     Is that of love; love so divine     They sin who say in slander's breath     That love belongs to sin and death.     The sweetest voice that lips contain,     The sweetest thought that leaves the brain,     The sweetest feeling of the heart--     There's pleasure in its very smart.     The scent of rose and cinnamon     Is not like love remembered on;     In falsehood's enmity they lie     Who sin and tell us love can die.

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"In crime and enmity they lie..."

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Author:John Clare

"In crime and enmity they lie..." by John Clare

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"The Text is taken from Percy's Reliques (1765), vol. i. p. 71, 'given from two MS. copies, transmitted from Scotland.' Herd had a very similar bal"

John Clare

About John Clare

John Clare (1793–1864) was an English poet known as the "peasant poet" for his humble origins. His nature poetry—including "I Am" and "Badger"—captures the English countryside with extraordinary precision and emotional honesty, and he is now recognized as one of the finest nature poets in the language.

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