Cambridge Poets 1900–1913

Aelfrida Tillyard . *LOVE NOT THE DEAD O'ERMUCH . I OVE not the dead o'ermuch . You hold them here When, king-like they should come into their own , And , in some spirit -mother's womb resown, Be sons of life , sans darkness and sans fear . But, as in sombre waters of a mere , The stars their image from afar drop down , The dead shall light your soul, the dead whose crown Makes up the light of every starry sphere . But know , when e' er the dead can hear our grief They linger all our barren earth around , And touch us with the wind's too -plaintive sound , Whispering back our grief within our ears . Then gather of your pain the ripened sheaf Turn to the living — they need all your tears . * THE DIFFERENCE . IF ever thou didst turn aside 1 Or could ' st unfaithful be, And then re - tread the wayward path And bring back love to me , I never could be glad again Or light of heart , but yet I'd put my hands upon thy eyes And help thee to forget . 196