OF RIEND and Father! if this parting time
Held not, within its shadow hid away,
The dawn of greeting for some fairer day,
We scarce could lend thee to that brighter clime,—
We scarce could see thy longing feet depart,
Nor look so calmly on the well loved face,
Nor say farewell with such an easy grace
If still we did not hold thee heart to heart.
So thus Godspeed: go tread each varied scene
That now thy poet fancy loves to paint,
Kneel at the shrine of hero and of saint,—
Where God yet bends to show His power supreme;
Grow rich in all that Life from Time can wrest;
Be changed by deeper joys and holier trust;
But when we hail thee, Priest revered and just,
Be still the same in all we love the best!
There be all kinds of parting,—some which rend
The very soul with bitter sense of pain,
And, tearing from us the beloved friend,
Leave wounds which gape while life and thought remain.
And some, which lightly met and lightly passed,
Like cloudwreaths tossed beneath a summer sky,
A moment's shadow on the spirit cast,
But leave the clear sun shining as they fly.
Yet some there are, more blessed than the rest,
Which know of parting but the name alone,
So deeply in each tried and faithful breast
The spreading roots of mutual trust have grown;
So fairly, through the swiftly passing years
Has friendship bloomed, with changing time and breath,
With holy thought that strengthens and endears,
With love that mocks at chance and laughs at death.
If in our hearts to-night,—O friend revered
Above the common lot of common men,—
By each best hope of love and life endeared,
The sense of loss falls blindly now and then
Yet do we feel with every throb of grief
The straining of some bond, so strong and pure
That the sore spirit works its own relief
And firmly rises, braver to endure.
There is no parting that can take thee hence;
There are no ties that thus so lightly fall;
Through every pulse of upward life and sense,
Holding thy heart, we hold thee once for all.
And howsoever chance or fate divide,
Or lands or sea between our paths be thrown,
Still will we share thy hope, thy joy, thy pride,
Still will we claim and call thee all our own.
Held not, within its shadow hid away,
The dawn of greeting for some fairer day,
We scarce could lend thee to that brighter clime,—
We scarce could see thy longing feet depart,
Nor look so calmly on the well loved face,
Nor say farewell with such an easy grace
If still we did not hold thee heart to heart.
So thus Godspeed: go tread each varied scene
That now thy poet fancy loves to paint,
Kneel at the shrine of hero and of saint,—
Where God yet bends to show His power supreme;
Grow rich in all that Life from Time can wrest;
Be changed by deeper joys and holier trust;
But when we hail thee, Priest revered and just,
Be still the same in all we love the best!
There be all kinds of parting,—some which rend
The very soul with bitter sense of pain,
And, tearing from us the beloved friend,
Leave wounds which gape while life and thought remain.
And some, which lightly met and lightly passed,
Like cloudwreaths tossed beneath a summer sky,
A moment's shadow on the spirit cast,
But leave the clear sun shining as they fly.
Yet some there are, more blessed than the rest,
Which know of parting but the name alone,
So deeply in each tried and faithful breast
The spreading roots of mutual trust have grown;
So fairly, through the swiftly passing years
Has friendship bloomed, with changing time and breath,
With holy thought that strengthens and endears,
With love that mocks at chance and laughs at death.
If in our hearts to-night,—O friend revered
Above the common lot of common men,—
By each best hope of love and life endeared,
The sense of loss falls blindly now and then
Yet do we feel with every throb of grief
The straining of some bond, so strong and pure
That the sore spirit works its own relief
And firmly rises, braver to endure.
There is no parting that can take thee hence;
There are no ties that thus so lightly fall;
Through every pulse of upward life and sense,
Holding thy heart, we hold thee once for all.
And howsoever chance or fate divide,
Or lands or sea between our paths be thrown,
Still will we share thy hope, thy joy, thy pride,
Still will we claim and call thee all our own.