John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892)

AS a guest who may not stay

Long and sad farewells to say

Glides with smiling face away,

Of the sweetness and the zest

Of thy happy life possess’d

Thou hast left us at thy best.

Keep for us, O friend, where’er

Thou art waiting, all that here

Made thy earthly presence dear;

Something of thy pleasant past

On a ground of wonder cast,

In the stiller waters glass’d!

Keep the human heart of thee;

Let the mortal only be

Clothed in immortality.

And when fall our feet as fell

Thine upon the asphodel,

Let thy old smile greet us well.