Poem by Alfred Edward Housman

Additional Poems. 4. It Is No Gift I Tender

It is no gift I tender,
        A loan is all I can;
But do not scorn the lender;
        Man gets no more from man.

Oh, mortal man may borrow
        What mortal man can lend;
And ’twill not end tomorrow,
        Though sure enough ’twill end.

If death and time are stronger
        A love may yet be strong;
The world will last for longer
        But this will last for long.

1. More Poems. 9. When Green Buds Hang in the Elm Like Dust
2. More Poems. 11. The Rainy Pleiads Wester
3. Additional Poems. 13. Oh Turn not in from Marching
4. Additional Poems. 5. Here Are the Skies, the Planets Seven
5. More Poems. 18. Delight it Is in Youth and May

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