| William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. (1878–1962). Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1920. 1920. |
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| Elegy before Death |
| | | Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950) |
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| THERE will be rose and rhododendron | |
| When you are dead and underground; | |
| Still will be heard from white Syringas | |
| Heavy with bees, a sunny sound; | |
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| Still will the tamaracks be raining. | 5 |
| After the rain has ceased, and still | |
| Will there be robbins in the stubble, | |
| Brown sheep upon the warm, green hill. | |
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| Spring will not all, nor autumn falter, | |
| Nothing will know that you are gone, | 10 |
| Saving alone some sullen plowland | |
| None but yourself sets foot upon; | |
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| Saving the mayweed and the pigweed | |
| Nothing will know that you are dead— | |
| These, and perhaps a useless wagon | 15 |
| Standing beside some tumbled shed. | |
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| 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!
Ainslee’s Magazine | 20 |
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