when i am dead by christina rossetti

her grave site in Highgate North London

When I am dead, my dearest

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BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

When I am dead, my dearest, 

Sing no sad songs for me; 

Plant thou no roses at my head, 

Nor shady cypress tree: 

Be the green grass above me 

With showers and dewdrops wet; 

And if thou wilt, remember, 

And if thou wilt, forget. 

I shall not see the shadows, 

I shall not feel the rain; 

I shall not hear the nightingale 

Sing on, as if in pain: 

And dreaming through the twilight 

That doth not rise nor set, 

Haply I may remember, 

And haply may forget.