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XXXIII. [If truth in hearts that perish]

by A. E. Housman, 1896

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.

Sure, sure, if stedfast meaning,
 If single thought could save,
The world might end to-morrow,
 You should not see the grave.

This long and sure-set liking,
 This boundless will to please,
-Oh, you should live for ever
 If there were help in these.

But now, since all is idle,
 To this lost heart be kind,
Ere to a town you journey
 Where friends are ill to find.

Published in A Shropshire Lad
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