XVIII + 

I never gave a lock of hair away + 

To a man, Dearest, except this to thee, + 

Which now upon my fingers thoughtfully + 

I ring out to the full brown length, and say: + 

“Take it.” My day of youth went yesterday; + 

My hair no longer bounds to my foot’s glee, + 

Nor plant I it from rose or myrtle-tree, + 

As girls do, any more: it only may + 

Now shade on two pale cheeks, the mark of tears, + 

Taught drooping from the head that hangs aside + 

Through sorrow’s trick. I thought the funeral shears + 

Would take this first, but Love is justified: + 

Take it thou⁠—finding pure, from all those years, + 

The kiss my mother left here when she died. + 