L'ENVOI.
(TO R. F. MAY, 1876.)
O Friend 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!
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!
