| A. E. Housman (1859–1936). A Shropshire Lad. 1896. |
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| XXXIII. If truth in hearts that perish |
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| 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. | |
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| Sure, sure, if stedfast meaning, | 5 |
| If single thought could save, | |
| The world might end to-morrow, | |
| You should not see the grave. | |
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| This long and sure-set liking, | |
| This boundless will to please, | 10 |
| —Oh, you should live for ever | |
| If there were help in these. | |
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| But now, since all is idle, | |
| To this lost heart be kind, | |
| Ere to a town you journey | 15 |
| Where friends are ill to find. | |
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