Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, RUTH AND NAOMI, by WILLIAM OLIVER BOURNE PEABODY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

RUTH AND NAOMI, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Farewell? Oh, no! It may not be
Last Line: My firm and faithful heart from thee.
Subject(s): Death; Jews; Ruth (bible); Women In The Bible; Dead, The; Judaism


FAREWELL? Oh, no! It may not be;
My firm resolve is heard on high!
I will not breathe farewell to thee,
Save only in my dying sigh.
I know not that I now could bear
Forever from thy side to part,
And live without a friend to share
The treasured sadness of my heart.

I will not boast the martyr's might
To leave my home without a sigh,—
The dwelling of my past delight,
The shelter where I hoped to die.
In such a duty, such an hour,
The weak are strong, the timid brave,
For love puts on an angel's power,
And faith grows mightier than the grave.

For rays of heaven serenely bright
Have gilt the caverns of the tomb;
And I can ponder with delight
On all its gathering thoughts of gloom.
Then, mother, let us haste away
To that blest land to Israel given,
Where faith unsaddened by decay
Dwells nearest to its native heaven.

For where thou goest, I will go;
With thine my earthly lot is cast.
In pain and pleasure, joy and woe,
Will I attend thee to the last.
That hour shall find me by thy side,
And where thy grave is, mine shall be;
Death can but for a time divide
My firm and faithful heart from thee.





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