War and Love/Leave-Taking
For works with similar titles, see Leave-Taking.
LEAVE-TAKING
Will the world still live for youWhen I am gone?
Will the straight garden poppyStill spout blood from its green throatBefore your feet?Will the five cleft petals of the campionStill be rose-coloured,Like five murdered senses, for you?
Will your trees still live,Thrust metallic bosses of leafageFrom the hill-side in the summer light;Will the leaves sway and grow darker,Rustle, swirl in the gales;Decay into gold and orange,Crinkle and shrivel,And fall silently at lastOn to frosty grass?
Will there be sun for you;The lines of near hillsCut out in thin blue steelAgainst red haze?
Will there be silence?
Will not even the clean acrid seaTurn stale upon your lips?
Will the world die for youAs it dies for me?