THERE be many kinds of parting -- yes, I know Some with fond, grieving eyes that overflow, Some with brave hands that strengthen as they go; Ah yes, I know -- I know. But there be partings harder still to tell, That fall in silence, like an evil spell, Without one wistful message of farewell; Ah yes, too hard to tell. There is no claiming of one sacred kiss, -- One token for the days when life shall miss A spirit from the world of vanished bliss; Ah no -- not even this. There is no rising ere the birds have sung Their skyward songs, to journey with the sun, -- Nor folded hands to show that life is done; Ah no, for life is young. There are no seas, no mountains rising wide, No centuries of absence to divide, -- Just soul-space, standing daily side by side; Ah, wiser to have died. Hands still clasp hands, eyes still reflect their own; -- Yet had one over universes flown, So far each heart hath from the other grown, Alone were less alone. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...IN LOVE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SONG FIRST BY A SHEPHERD by WILLIAM BLAKE MERSA by KEITH CASTELLAINE DOUGLAS CROTALUS by FRANCIS BRET HARTE ODES III, 29 by QUINTUS HORATIUS FLACCUS HERE LIES A LADY by JOHN CROWE RANSOM |