After the supper and talk -- after the day is done, As a friend from friends his final withdrawal prolonging, Good-bye and Good-bye with emotional lips repeating, (So hard for his hand to release those hands -- no more will they meet, No more for communion of sorrow and joy, of old and young, A far-stretching journey awaits him, to return no more,) Shunning, postponing severance -- seeking to ward off the last word ever so little, E'en at the exit-door turning -- charges superfluous calling back -- e'en as he descends the steps, Something to eke out a minute additional -- shadows of nightfall deepening, Farewells, messages lessening -- dimmer the forthgoer's visage and form, Soon to be lost for aye in the darkness -- loth, O so loth to depart! Garrulous to the very last. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WOMAN, GALLUP, N.M. by KAREN SWENSON THE BETTER PART by MATTHEW ARNOLD YOUR LAD, AND MY LAD by RANDALL PARRISH ANOTHER SPRING by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI SONNET: 67 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE |