| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
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| Roden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel. 1834–1894 |
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| 804. The Old |
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| THEY are waiting on the shore | |
| For the bark to take them home: | |
| They will toil and grieve no more; | |
| The hour for release hath come. | |
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| All their long life lies behind | 5 |
| Like a dimly blending dream: | |
| There is nothing left to bind | |
| To the realms that only seem. | |
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| They are waiting for the boat; | |
| There is nothing left to do: | 10 |
| What was near them grows remote, | |
| Happy silence falls like dew; | |
| Now the shadowy bark is come, | |
| And the weary may go home. | |
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| By still water they would rest | 15 |
| In the shadow of the tree: | |
| After battle sleep is best, | |
| After noise, tranquillity. | |
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