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May And Death

By Robert Browning

Topics: classic

I.     I wish that when you died last May,     Charles, there had died along with you     Three parts of springs delightful things;     Ay, and, for me, the fourth part too. II.     A foolish thought, and worse, perhaps!     There must be many a pair of friends     Who, arm in arm, deserve the warm     Moon-births and the long evening-ends. III.     So, for their sake, be May still May!     Let their new time, as mine of old,     Do all it did for me: I bid     Sweet sights and sounds throng manifold. IV.     Only, one little sight, one plant,     Woods have in May, that starts up green     Save a sole streak which, so to speak,     Is springs blood, spilt its leaves between, V.     That, they might spare; a certain wood     Might miss the plant; their loss were small:     But I, wheneer the leaf grows there,     Its drop comes from my heart, thats all.

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"I...." by Robert Browning

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Robert Browning

About Robert Browning

Robert Browning (1812–1889) was a major English Victorian poet who perfected the dramatic monologue form. His poems—including "My Last Duchess," "The Pied Piper of Hamelin," and "Fra Lippo Lippi"—explore psychology, morality, and art through the voices of vividly drawn characters.

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