Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WHITHER, by ARTHUR PETERSON Poet's Biography First Line: Dear one, where art thou gone / who dwelt so long with me? Last Line: Thou goest. It must be best. Subject(s): Death; Dead, The | ||||||||
Dear one, where art thou gone Who dwelt so long with me? I walk this earth alone. What place doth shelter thee? What mystic spirit land Allotted by God's hand? Or doth thy sweet shade move Beside me on this wold? Compass me round with love As in the days of old? Guard me from every harm With unseen, angel's arm? Ah, whither didst thou pass That morning while I knelt Beside thy bed, alas, And kissed thy face, and felt That, suddenly, thou wast gone, And I was left alone? I know not: mystery -- In birth, in life, in death -- Doth us environ. We Know not whence comes the breath Of being at our birth, Nor whither, when from earth The immortal soul recedes, That soul unbodied goes. We pray in funeral weeds. But whither? No man knows. No voice, amidst the gloom, Comes from beyond the tomb. I only know, dear heart, That God, who placed us here, Hath willed that we should part. He gave thee to me, dear, And now, at His behest, Thou goest. It must be best. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A FRIEND KILLED IN THE WAR by ANTHONY HECHT FOR JAMES MERRILL: AN ADIEU by ANTHONY HECHT TARANTULA: OR THE DANCE OF DEATH by ANTHONY HECHT CHAMPS D?ÇÖHONNEUR by ERNEST HEMINGWAY NOTE TO REALITY by TONY HOAGLAND A CLOUD FANCY by ARTHUR PETERSON |
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