IF life were but a dream, my Love, And death the waking time; If day had not a beam, my Love, And night had not a rhyme, -- A barren, barren world were this Without one saving gleam; I'd only ask that with a kiss You'd wake me from the dream. If dreaming were the sum of days, And loving were the bane; If battling for a wreath of bays Could soothe a heart in pain, -- I'd scorn the meed of battle's might, All other aims above I'd choose the human's higher right, To suffer and to love! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WENDELL PHILLIPS by AMOS BRONSON ALCOTT NOTHING GOLD CAN STAY by ROBERT FROST MISGIVINGS (1860) by HERMAN MELVILLE THE DEAR PRESIDENT by JOHN JAMES PIATT TO THE UNIMPLORED BELOVED by EDWARD SHANKS |