(11 Oct. 1886 - A Memory of William Barnes) SILENTLY I footed by an uphill road That led from my abode to a spot yew-boughed; Yellowly the sun sloped low down to westward, And dark was the east with cloud. Then, amid the shadow of that livid sad east, Where the light was least, and a gate stood wide, Something flashed the fire of the sun that was facing it, Like a brief blaze on that side. Looking hard and harder I knew what it meant - The sudden shine sent from the livid east scene; It meant the west mirrored by the coffin of my friend there, Turning to the road from his green, To take his last journey forth - he who in his prime Trudged so many a time from that gate athwart the land! Thus a farewell to me he signalled on his grave-way, As with a wave of his hand. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ON THE WAY (PHILADELPHIA, 1794) by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE ENEMY'S PORTRAIT by THOMAS HARDY THE YEAR'S AWAKENING by THOMAS HARDY CITIZEN OF THE WORLD by ALFRED JOYCE KILMER VERSES TO MR. C by ALEXANDER POPE SONGS OF TRAVEL: 26. IF THIS WERE FAITH by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON |