Alfred Edward Housman

More Poems. 31. Because I Liked You Better

Because I liked you better
        Than suits a man to say,
It irked you, and I promised
        To throw the thought away.

To put the world between us
        We parted, stiff and dry;
„Good-bye,” said you, „forget me.”
        „I will, no fear,” said I.

If here, where clover whitens
        The dead man’s knoll, you pass,
And no tall flower to meet you
        Starts in the trefoiled grass,

Halt by the headstone naming
        The heart no longer stirred,
And say the lad that loved you
        Was one that kept his word.