O DO NOT LEAVE ME.

O do not leave me, mother, till I sleep; Be near me until I forget; sit there. And the child having prayed lest she should weep, Sleeps in the strength of prayer.

O do not leave me, lover, brother, friends, Till I am dead, and resting in my place. And the girl, having prayed, in silence bends Down to the earth's embrace.

Leave me not, God, until—nay, until when? Not till I have with thee one heart, one mind; Not till the Life is Light in me, and then Leaving is left behind.