| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 1073. Give Me Not Tears |
| | | By Rose Hawthorne Lathrop |
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DESPAIR
DEAR, when you see my grave, | |
| Oh, shall you weep? | |
| Ah, no! That were to have | |
| Mistaken care; | |
| But when you see my grave, | 5 |
| I pray you keep | |
| Sunshine of heart that time doth lay me there, | |
| Where veiling mists of dream guard endless sleep. | |
| Though the young life we mourn | |
| That, blooming, dies,— | 10 |
| Ere grief hath made forlorn | |
| This other face,— | |
| Still sadder are the eyes, | |
| The cheeks more worn | |
| Than show the dead, of those who seek love’s grace: | 15 |
| Death is the gentlest of the world’s replies. | |
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JOY
DEAR, when the sun is set | |
| From my life’s air, | |
| And your eyes, newly wet | |
| With tears for me, | 20 |
| Make my sky darker yet,— | |
| Remember where | |
| Your eyes in light laved all my destiny: | |
| Weep not, weep not, since so much love was there! | |
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| Remember that through you | 25 |
| My rapture came: | |
| I gained from faith so true | |
| More than I asked,— | |
| For not the half I knew | |
| My need might name, | 30 |
| Until I saw the soul your love unmasked: | |
| Then crave not of the night my vanished flame. | |
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