Poetry – Because I have loved life – Amelia Josephine Burr

John Peachey sent me this one through. Apart from the god bit I thought it was great.

Amelia Josephine Burr


Because I have loved life,    

I shall have no sorrow to die.

I have sent up my gladness on wings,    

to be lost in the blue of the sky.

I have run and leaped with the rain,    

I have taken the wind to my breast.

My cheek like a drowsy child    

to the face of the earth

I have pressed.

Because I have loved life,    

I shall have no sorrow to die.

I have kissed young Love on the lips,    

I have heard his song to the end.

I have struck my hand like a seal  

  in the loyal hand of a friend.

I have known the peace of heaven,    

the comfort of work done well.

I have longed for death in the darkness    

and risen alive out of hell.

Because I have loved life,    

I shall have no sorrow to die.


I give a share of my soul  

to the world where my course is run

I know that another shall finish    

the task I must leave undone

.I know that no flower, no flint    

was in vain on the path I trod.

As one looks on a face through a window,    

through life I have looked on God.

Because I have loved life,    

I shall have no sorrow to die.