O DO NOT LEAVE ME.

O do not leave me, mother, till I sleep;

Be near me until I forget; sit there.

And the child having prayed lest she should weep,

Sleeps in the strength of prayer.

O do not leave me, lover, brother, friends,

Till I am dead, and resting in my place.

And the girl, having prayed, in silence bends

Down to the earth's embrace.

Leave me not, God, until — nay, until when?

Not till I have with thee one heart, one mind;

Not till the Life is Light in me, and then

Leaving is left behind.