Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AWAY by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

Poet Analysis

First Line: I CANNOT SAY, AND I WILL NOT SAY
Last Line: HE IS NOT DEAD -- HE IS JUST AWAY.
Subject(s): GRIEF; RELIGION; SORROW; SADNESS; THEOLOGY;
I CANNOT SAY, and I will not say
That he is dead. He is just away.
With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand,
He has wandered into an unknown land
And left us dreaming how very fair
It needs must be, since he lingers there.
And you -- oh, you, who the wildest yearn
For an old-time step, and the glad return,
Think of him faring on, as dear
In the love of There as the love of Here.
Think of him still as the same. I say,
He is not dead -- he is just away.



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