I
I wish that when you died last May,
  Charles, there had died along with you
Three parts of spring's delightful things;
  Ay, and, for me, the fourth part too.
 
II
A foolish thought, and worse, perhaps!
  There must be many a pair of friends
Who, arm in arm, deserve the warm
  Moon-births and the long evening-ends.
 
III
So, for their sake, be May still May!
  Let their new time, as mine of old,
Do all it did for me: I bid
  Sweet sights and songs throng manifold.
 
IV
Only, one little sight, one plant,
  Woods have in May, that starts up green
Save a sole streak which, so to speak,
  Is spring's blood, spilt its leaves between, --
 
V
That, they might spare; a certain wood
  Might miss the plant; their loss were small:
But I, -- whene'er the leaf grows there,
  Its drop comes from my heart, that 's all.