John Ruskin (1819–1900)

WHEN our delight is desolate,

And hope is overthrown;

And when the heart must bear the weight

Of its own love alone;

And when the soul, whose thoughts are deep,

Must guard them unrevealed,

And feel that it is full, but keep

That fullness calm and sealed;

When Love’s long glance is dark with pain—

With none to meet or cheer;

And words of woe are wild in vain

For those who cannot hear;

When earth is dark, and memory

Pale in the heaven above,

The heart can bear to lose its joy,

But not to cease to love.

But what shall guide the choice within,

Of guilt or agony,—

When to remember is to sin,

And to forget—to die?