MY merry-hearted comrade on a day Gave over all his mirth, and went away Upon the darksome journey I must face Sometime as well. Each hour I miss his grace, His meek obedience and his constancy. Never again will he look up to me With loyal eyes, nor leap for my caress As one who wished not to be masterless; And never shall I hear his pleading bark Outside the door, when all the ways grow dark, Bidding the house-folk gather close inside. It seems a cruel thing, since he has died, To make his memory small, or deem it sin To reckon such a mate as less than kin. O faithful follower, O gentle friend, If thou art missing at the journey's end, Whate'er of joy or solace there I find Unshared by thee I left so far behind, The gladness will be mixed with tears, I trow, My little crony of the long ago! For how could heaven be home-like, with the door Fast-locked against a loved one, evermore? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...PASSION'S HOUNDS by WILLIAM HENRY DAVIES AN EPITAPH by WALTER JOHN DE LA MARE CLEOMENS, OR THE SPARTAN HERO: SONG by JOHN DRYDEN SONNET: 45 by EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY THE FIRST BLUEBIRD by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |