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Poems

By the author of "The Patience of Hope" [i.e. Dora Greenwell]
  

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PARTING.
  

PARTING.

“They that my trust must grow to, dwell not here,
They are with all my other comforts,
Far hence.”

Oh! speak of me, my friends! when I am gone
Bind with my name some old familiar strain,
That it may bear a greeting on its tone
From One, heart-woven with its linkèd chain.
For I will speak of you! your names will rise
When the full heart would of its treasure tell,
And I will seek in stranger looks and eyes
To trace the aspects I have loved so well.
Oh! think of me, my friends! when I am gone
Let not my memory lightly pass away,
With pleasant songs forgotten—or as one
A stranger-guest, abiding but a day.
For I will think of you! a purer ray
Will gild Life's journey, flung from times of old,
And Thought will reckon o'er, when far away,
Their gentle memories—its hoarded gold.

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Oh! dream of me, my friends! when I am gone,
Then be your happy slumbers lightly stirred
By tender shadows from the distance thrown,
By echoes sweet of some remembered word.
For on my visions haunting forms will rise,
And I will seek in sleep a clasping hand,
And I shall look within those much-loved eyes,
Once more, within the pleasant dreaming-land!
Oh! pray for me, my friends! when I am gone
Still with your voices let my name arise,
Where once my accents mingled in the tone
Of your sweet hymns and twilight harmonies.
For I will pray for you! my spirit lone
Will seek the language that its kindred share;
Yes! there, beloved friends! when I am gone
It will be mine, dear friends, to meet you there!