Beneath each lovers' parting, Within each brave handshake, Death prods his itching fingers, The final clasp to take. ... We kiss and part tomorrow! You walk that path alone, Where Death full-powered swaggers, Assured .. and cold as stone. ... What can I say to cheer you! How lift your drooping head ... How still your lips atremble ... How dry those tears unshed! ... No, not for you vain solace— Too deep—too much you know ... No inane words shall weld us, Who were welded blow by blow. ... "Good luck!" and you have left me! Plucky until the end— Your eyes so mutely pleading: "What luck can Fate portend?" Ay, what luck can Life dissemble, Where Death shrills oft and loud! Where mortal's breath comes labored, And brows with pain are plowed. ... I fear .. I quake .. I shudder! Has all then come to this: A sigh .. a word .. a stumbling, The end of earthly bliss? ... No! I'll go on believing! The Silent Voice .. must know ... Ere Death would feign come near you, God within would tell me so. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LOST SHEEP by ELIZABETH CECILIA CLEPHANE INVERSNAID by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS MY SISTER'S SLEEP by DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI ON A REQUEST OF CHLORIS by ROBERT BURNS THE MARRIED MAN by CHARLES BADGER CLARK JR. |