If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her
cunning.

If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her
cunning.

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washed it away;
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One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washed it away;
Agayne I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tyde and made my paynes his prey.

The wind blows out, the bubble dies;
The spring entomb'd in autumn lies;
The dew dries up; read more

The wind blows out, the bubble dies;
The spring entomb'd in autumn lies;
The dew dries up; the star is shot;
The flight is past--and man forgot.

God and I both knew what it meant once; now God alone knows.

God and I both knew what it meant once; now God alone knows.

And have you been to Borderland?
Its country lies on either hand
Beyond the river I-forget.
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And have you been to Borderland?
Its country lies on either hand
Beyond the river I-forget.
One crosses by a single stone
So narrow one must pass alone,
And all about its waters fret--
The laughing river I-forget.

It is sometimes expedient to forget who we are.

It is sometimes expedient to forget who we are.

But my thoughts ran a wool-gathering; and I did like the
countryman, who looked for his ass while he read more

But my thoughts ran a wool-gathering; and I did like the
countryman, who looked for his ass while he was mounted on his
back.

Go, forget me--why should sorrow
O'er that brow a shadow fling?
Go, forget me--and to-morrow
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Go, forget me--why should sorrow
O'er that brow a shadow fling?
Go, forget me--and to-morrow
Brightly smile and sweetly sing.
Smile--though I shall not be near thee;
Sing--though I shall never hear thee.

Forgotten? No, we never do forget:
We let the years go; wash them clean with tears,
Leave read more

Forgotten? No, we never do forget:
We let the years go; wash them clean with tears,
Leave them to bleach out in the open day,
Or lock them careful by, like dead friends' clothes,
Till we shall dare unfold them without pain,--
But we forget not, never can forget.