Song Of The Going Away

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Title:     Song Of The Going Away
Author: Jean Ingelow [More Titles by Ingelow]

"Old man, upon the green hillside,
With yellow flowers besprinkled o'er,
How long in silence wilt thou bide
At this low stone door?

"I stoop: within 'tis dark and still;
But shadowy paths methinks there be,
And lead they far into the hill?"
"Traveller, come and see."

"'Tis dark, 'tis cold, and hung with gloom;
I care not now within to stay;
For thee and me is scarcely room,
I will hence away."

"Not so, not so, thou youthful guest,
Thy foot shall issue forth no more:
Behold the chamber of thy rest,
And the closing door!"

"O, have I 'scaped the whistling ball,
And striven on smoky fields of fight,
And scaled the 'leaguered city's wall
In the dangerous night;

"And borne my life unharmed still
Through foaming gulfs of yeasty spray,
To yield it on a grassy hill
At the noon of day?"

"Peace! Say thy prayers, and go to sleep,
Till _some time_, ONE my seal shall break,
And deep shall answer unto deep,
When He crieth, 'AWAKE!'"

[The end]
Jean Ingelow's poem: Song Of The Going Away

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