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‹Better GutenbergThe Book of American Negro PoetryI Want to die While You Love Me · 70 of 120Contents›

The Book of American Negro Poetry

by James Weldon Johnson

70 of 120 · Contents · Download EPUB

I Want to die While You Love Me

I want to die while you love me,
  While yet you hold me fair,
While laughter lies upon my lips
  And lights are in my hair.

I want to die while you love me,
  And bear to that still bed,
Your kisses turbulent, unspent
  To warm me when I’m dead.

I want to die while you love me
  Oh, who would care to live
Till love has nothing more to ask
  And nothing more to give!

I want to die while you love me
  And never, never see
The glory of this perfect day
  Grow dim or cease to be.

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