Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


AN END PIECE by FORD MADOX FORD

First Line: CLOSE THE BOOK AND SAY GOOD-BYE TO EVERYTHING
Last Line: AS OVER THE HILL COMES THE MORNING.
Subject(s): CHANGE; SAILING & SAILORS; SEAMEN; SAILS;

CLOSE the book and say good-bye to everything;
Pass up from the shore and pass by byre and stall,
—For the smacks shall sail home on the tail of the tides,
And the kine shall stand deep in the sweet water sides,
And they still shall go burying, still wedding brides,
But I must be gone in the morning.

One more look, and so farewell, sweet summering,
One moment more and then no more at all,
For the skipper shall summon his hands to the sea,
And the shepherd still shepherd his sheep on the lea,
But it's over and done with the man that was me,
As over the hill comes the morning.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net