Poems (Millay)/Elegy before Death
Elegy before Death
There will be rose and rhododendron When you are dead and under ground;Still will be heard from white syringas Heavy with bees, a sunny sound;
Still will the tamaracks be raining After the rain has ceased, and §tillWill there be robins in the stubble, Brown sheep upon the warm green hill.
Spring will not ail nor autumn falter; Nothing will know that you are gone,Saving alone some sullen plough-land None but yourself sets foot upon;
Saving the may-weed and the pig-weed Nothing will know that you are dead,—These, and perhaps a useless wagon Standing beside some tumbled shed.
Oh, there will pass with your great passing Little of beauty not your own,—Only the light from common water Only the grace from simple stone!