I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground
So it is, and so it will be, for it has been, time out of mind
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely
Crowned with lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew
A formula, a phrase remains - but the best is lost

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love -
they are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses of the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave
I know.
But I do not approve.
And I am not resigned.

-Edna St. Vincent Millay.