Classic and Contemporary Poetry
HAIL AND FAREWELL, by EDWARD NOYES POMEROY First Line: The world will wear a sadder face Last Line: Hail, gracious spirit, and farewell! Subject(s): Farewell; Parting | ||||||||
The world will wear a sadder face, Its heart will bear another pain, That for her pity's tender grace Its hungry search will be in vain. "Her eyes were homes of silent prayer"; Her heart was like a swelling sea, And many a grief and many a care Were gathered to their sympathy. Her mind was like a temple old, Whose walls were hung by pious hands, With offerings of gems and gold, The ample spoils of many lands. Or, rather, like a Christian fane, With windows bright and portals wide, And pouring harmonies to gain The throngs that long have truth denied. To lose her from our eager ken, To lose her thought to ripeness grown, To lose her presence, are as when A richly freighted ship goes down. A chasm cleaves the ocean stream, The waves close over as before, The lonely seabirds wheel and scream, The stately ship returns no more. While dazed and shivering at its brink, Where sorrow's deep to deep replies, It seems incredible to think The grave could win so rare a prize. It cannot be that earth is all, That she today is less than we, That death can hold within its thrall A life like this; it cannot be. The heart whose throbbing silent is To earthly senses beats on high; The star-like soul is quenched in this, To brighten in another sky. Oh, whom but yesterday we knew, Whose thoughts today we cannot tell, We know thou still to truth art true; Hail, gracious spirit, and farewell! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN STUDY #2 FOR B.B.L. by JUNE JORDAN WATCHING THE NEEDLEBOATS AT SAN SABBA by JAMES JOYCE SESTINA: TRAVEL NOTES by WELDON KEES THE OLD CHURCH ON THE HILL by EDWARD NOYES POMEROY |
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