| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Love Not |
| | | Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton (1808–77) |
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| 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 blossom’d 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! oh warning vainly said | |
| In present hours as in the years gone by; | |
| Love flings a halo round the dear ones’ head, | |
| Faultless, immortal, till they change or die, | |
| Love not! | 20 |
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