When you and I go downBreathless and cold,Our faces both worn backTo earthly mould,How lonely we shall be!What shall we do,You without me,I without you?
I cannot bear the thoughtYou, first, may die,Nor of how you will weep,Should I.We are too much alone;What can we doTo make our bodies one:You, me; I, you?
We are most nearly bornOf one same kind;We have the same delight,The same true mind.Must we then part, we part;Is there no wayTo keep a beating heart,And light of day?
I could now rise and runThrough street on streetTo where you are breathing.-you,That we might meet,And that your living voiceMight sound aboveFear, and we two rejoiceWithin our love.
How frail the body is,And we are madeAs only in decayTo lean and fade.I think too much of death;There is a gloomWhen I can't hear your breathCalm in some room.
O, but how suddenlyEither may droop;Countenance be so white,Body stoop.Then there may be a placeWhere fading flowersDrop on a lifeless faceThrough weeping hours.
Is then nothing safe?Can we not findSome everlasting lifeIn our one mind?I feel it like disgraceOnly to understandYour spirit through your word,Or by your hand.
I cannot find a wayThrough love and through;I cannot reach beyondBody, to you.When you or I must goDown evermore,There'll be no more to say.-But a locked door.
