When I am dead, my dearest by Christina Rossetti/Death of Burd Ellen by John Faed

Death of Burd Ellen by John Faed

When I am dead, my dearest by Christina Rossetti

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.

(About the painting: Death of Burd Ellen by John Faed is a painting taken from a Scottish song about a young woman (burd-Helen) who saves her lover Fleeming, by taking a bullet meant for him. It was fired by Bell, a jealous rival who wanted Helen for himself. Helen dies in Fleeming's arms, he's so grief stricken and enraged, he hunts Bell, tracking him all way (from Scotland) to Madrid, where he cuts him down. With nothing left to live for, Fleeming returns to Helen's grave, and dies himself.)