If I could tell how glad I was
I should not be so glad —
But when I cannot make the Force,
Nor mould it into Word,
I know it is a sign
That new Dilemna be
From mathematics further off
Than for Eternity.
-
-
* * *
If I eer Grow to Mans Estate
O Give to me a Womans fate
May I govern all both great & small
Have the last word & take the wall -
If I may have it, when it's dead,
I'll be contented — so —
If just as soon as Breath is out
It shall belong to me —
Until they lock it in the Grave,
'Tis Bliss I cannot weigh —
For tho' they lock Thee in the Grave,
Myself — can own the key —
Think of it Lover! I and...If I should cease to bring a Rose
Upon a festal day,
'Twill be because beyond the Rose
I have been called away —
If I should cease to take the names
My buds commemorate —
'Twill be because Death's finger
Claps my murmuring lip!If I should die,
And you should live —
And time should gurgle on —
And morn should beam —
And noon should burn —
As it has usual done —
If Birds should build as early
And Bees as bustling go —
One might depart at option
From enterprise below!
'Tis sweet to...If I should n't be alive
When the robins come,
Give the one in red cravat
A memorial crumb.
If I could n't thank you,
Being just asleep,
You will know I'm trying
With my granite lip !If I'm lost — now
That I was found —
Shall still my transport be —
That once — on me — those Jasper Gates
Blazed open — suddenly —
That in my awkward — gazing — face —
The Angels — softly peered —
And touched me with their fleeces,
Almost as if they cared —
I'm...If it had no pencil
Would it try mine —
Worn — now — and dull — sweet,
Writing much to thee.
If it had no word,
Would it make the Daisy,
Most as big as I was,
When it plucked me?
* * *
If it is True What the Prophets write
That the heathen Gods are all stocks & stones
Shall we for the sake of being Polite
Feed them with the juice of our marrow bones
5And if Bezaleel &...*
If Men will act like a maid smiling over a Churn
They ought not when it comes to anothers turn
To grow sower at what a friend may utter
Knowing & feeling that we all have need of Butter
...