Elegy before Death by Edna St. Vincent Millay

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 still

Will there be robins in the stubble, / Grey 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!