Ii

I did not half believe her when she said That I should never hear from her again; Nor when I found a letter from Lorraine, Was I surprised or grieved at what I read: “Dear friend, when you find this, I shall be dead. You are too far away to make me stop. They say that one drop--think of it, one drop!-- Will be enough,--but I’ll take five instead.

“You do not frown because I call you friend, For I would have you glad that I still keep Your memory, and even at the end-- Impenitent, sick, shattered--cannot curse The love that flings, for better or for worse, This worn-out, cast-out flesh of mine to sleep.”