Christina Georgina Rossetti

Requiem

When I am dead, my dearest, Sing no sad songs for me; Plant thou no roses at my head, Nor shady cypress tree: Be the green grass above me With showers and dewdrops wet; And if thou wilt, remember, And if thou wilt, forget. I shall not see the shadows, I shall not feel the rain; I shall not hear the nightingale Sing on, as if in pain: And dreaming through the twilight That doth not rise nor set, Haply I may remember, And haply may forget. Composition Date: Dec. 1848 1. Christina's brother and editor, William Michael Rossetti, commented: "This celebrated lyric . . . has perhaps been oftener quoted, and certainly oftener set to music, than anything else by Christina Rossetti. "