Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Rennell Rodd b. 1858

“When I Am Dead”

WHEN I am dead, my spirit

Shall wander far and free,

Through realms the dead inherit

Of earth and sky and sea;

Through morning dawn and gloaming,

By midnight moons at will,

By shores where the waves are foaming,

By seas where the waves are still.

I, following late behind you,

In wingless sleepless flight,

Will wander till I find you,

In sunshine or twilight;

With silent kiss for greeting

On lips and eyes and head,

In that strange after-meeting

Shall love be perfected.

We shall lie in summer breezes

And pass where whirlwinds go,

And the northern blast that freezes

Shall bear us with the snow.

We shall stand above the thunder,

And watch the lightnings hurled

At the misty mountains under,

Of the dim forsaken world.

We shall find our footsteps’ traces,

And passing hand in hand

By old familiar places,

We shall laugh, and understand.