Regret not Me

      Regret not me;
   Beneath the sunny tree
I lie uncaring, slumbering peacefully.

      Swift as the light
   I flew my faery flight;
Ecstatically I moved, and feared no night.

      I did not know
   That heydays fade and go,
But deemed that what was would be always so.

      I skipped at morn
   Between the yellowing corn,
Thinking it good and glorious to be born.

      I ran at eves
   Among the piled-up sheaves,
Dreaming, "I grieve not, therefore nothing grieves."

      Now soon will come
   The apple, pear, and plum
And hinds will sing, and autumn insects hum.

     Again you will fare
   To cider-makings rare,
And junketings; but I shall not be there.

      Yet gaily sing
   Until the pewter ring
Those songs we sang when we went gipsying.

      And lightly dance
   Some triple-timed romance
In coupled figures, and forget mischance;

      And mourn not me
   Beneath the yellowing tree;
For I shall mind not, slumbering peacefully.