Do We Begin?

Do we begin or do we make an end

When you and I part who have had fair day?

If we begin than I am glad of it,

As a man kindling a wrought-silver lamp

And casting perfumes in it might be glad.

And if we make an end, I am glad too

As a man might be laying down his book

And knowing a fair tale has been well told.[1]

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[1] Do We Begin? is by Gerald H. Crow, the English writer. He edited the literary magazine Oxford Poetry from 1910-1915. In the latter year he published a collection of his own poems. He also wrote two biographies that are still in print: William Morris, Designer (1934) and Ruskin (1936) (See footnote 92).