Come not, when I am dead

Come not, when I am dead by Alfred Tennyson

A philosophical poem by Alfred Tennyson first published in The Keepsake in 1842.

A 1905 recording of the poem set to music

Come not, when I am dead,
  To drop thy foolish tears upon my grave,
To trample round my fallen head,
  And vex the unhappy dust thou wouldst not save.
There let the wind sweep and the plover cry;
         But thou, go by.

Child, if it were thine error or thy crime
  I care no longer, being all unblest:
Wed whom thou wilt, but I am sick of Time,
  And I desire to rest.
Pass on, weak heart, and leave me where I lie:
         Go by, go by.

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.