“She throws a kiss, and bids me run
In whispers sweet as roses’ breath;
I know I can not win the race,
And at the end, I know, is death.”

“Then kiss me, Claire," he whispered, "And know that you are more to me than life, and I have no regret.”

“Go, lovely rose!
Tell her that wastes her time and me
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.”

“Sweet and lovely, sweeter than the roses in May,
And she loves me, there is nothing more I can say.”

“Breathe slumbrous music round me, sweet and slow,
To honied phrases set!
Into the land of dreams I long to go.
Bid me forget!”

“With the cry I wake;—and around me
The mother and child at her feet
Breathe peace in even whispers;
And the night falls heavy and sweet.”

“Boys never believe I can beat them, she told me back then. But I always win in the end.”

“Yep, that's me. I know. I know. You're humbled I'm here, feel like throwing rose petals at my feet, blah, blah, blah. No need, though. Just try and think of me as a normal guy
-William”

“she whispered.
I took a deep breath, I said, blinking back tears.”

“I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world.”