Anna Letitia Barbauld (1743–1825)

LIFE! I know not what thou art,

But know that thou and I must part;

And when, or how, or where we met

I own to me ’s a secret yet.

But this I know, when thou art fled,

Where’er they lay these limbs, this head,

No clod so valueless shall be

As all that then remains of me….

Life! we’ve been long together

Through pleasant and through cloudy weather;

’Tis hard to part when friends are dear—

Perhaps ’twill cost a sigh, a tear;

—Then steal away, give little warning,

Choose thine own time;

Say not Good-night,—but in some brighter clime

Bid me Good-morning.