Poem by Alfred Edward Housman

A Shropshire Lad. 33. If Truth in Hearts that Perish

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. 

1. More Poems. 15. Tarry, Delight; so Seldom Met
2. A Shropshire Lad. 34. The New Mistress
3. A Shropshire Lad. 17. Twice a Week the Winter Thorough
4. Additional Poems. 5. Here Are the Skies, the Planets Seven
5. More Poems. 25. Yon Flakes that Fret the Eastern Sky

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