Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume III. Sorrow and Consolation. 1904. | | | | I. Disappointment in Love | | “Love not” | | Caroline Elizabeth Sarah (Sheridan) Norton (1808–1877) |
| | | LOVE not, love not, ye hapless sons of clay! | |
| Hope’s gayest wreaths are made of earthly flowers,— | |
| Things that are made to fade and fall away | |
| Ere they have blossomed for a few short hours. | |
| Love not! | 5 |
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| Love not! the thing ye love may change; | |
| The rosy lip may cease to smile on you, | |
| The kindly-beaming eye grow cold and strange, | |
| The heart still warmly beat, yet not be true. | |
| Love not! | 10 |
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| Love not! the thing you love may die,— | |
| May perish from the gay and gladsome earth; | |
| The silent stars, the blue and smiling sky, | |
| Beam o’er its grave, as once upon its birth. | |
| Love not! | 15 |
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| Love not! O warning vainly said | |
| In present hours as in years gone by! | |
| Love flings a halo round the dear one’s head, | |
| Faultless, immortal, till they change or die. | |
| Love not! | 20 | | | |
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