I Shall Not Care

by Sara Teasdale

While some speculate that I Shall Not Care was penned as a suicide note, that is not true. The poem was published in 1915, eighteen years before her death.

WHEN I am dead and over me bright April
Shakes out her rain-drenched hair,
Tho' you should lean above me broken-hearted,
     I shall not care.

I shall have peace, as leafy trees are peaceful
When rain bends down the bough,
And I shall be more silent and cold-hearted
      Than you are now.