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IX.
- I WOULD I were the glow‐worm, thou the flower,
- That I might fill thy cup with glimmering light;
- I would I were the bird, and thou the bower,
- To sing thee songs throughout the summer night.
- I would I were a pine tree deeply rooted,
- And thou the lofty, cloud‐beleaguered rock,
- Still, while the blasts of heaven around us hooted,
- To cleave to thee and weather every shock.
- I would I were the rill, and thou the river;
- So might I, leaping from some headlong steep,
- With all my waters lost in thine for ever,
- Be hurried onwards to the unfathomed deep.
- I would—what would I not? O foolish dreaming!
- My words are but as leaves by autumn shed,
- That, in the faded moonlight idly gleaming,
- Drop on the grave where all our love lies dead.
