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. 33. On Forelands High in Heaven
2. A Shropshire Lad. 56. The Day of Battle
3. More Poems. 17. Bells in Tower at Evening Toll
4. Last Poems. 39. When Summer’s End Is Nighing
5. More Poems. 21. The World Goes None the Lamer

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