John Clare (1793–1864)

LOVE lives beyond the tomb

And earth, which fades like dew:

I love the fond,

The faithful, and the true.

Love lives in sleep:

’Tis happiness of healthy dreams;

Eve’s dews may weep,

But love delightful seems.

’Tis seen in flowers,

And in the morning’s pearly dew;

In earth’s green bowers,

And in the heaven’s eternal blue.

’Tis heard in Spring;

When light and sunbeams, warm and kind,

On angel’s wing

Bring love and music to the mind.

And where ’s the voice

So young, so beautiful, and sweet,

As Nature’s choice

Where Spring and lovers meet?

Love lives beyond the tomb

And earth, which fades like dew:

I love the fond,

The faithful, and the true.