AT PARTING.

GOOD-BYE!  Goodbye!  My soul goes after thee,
     Quick as a bird that quickens on the wing,
     Softly as winter softens into spring;
And as the moon sways to the swaying sea,
So is my spirit drawn resistlessly.

     Good-bye!  Yet closer round my life shall cling
     Thy tenderness, the priceless offering
That drifts through distance daily onto me.

O eager soul of mine, fly fast, fly fast!
     Take with thee hope and courage, thoughts that thrill

          The heart with gladness under somber skies.
O living tenderness, that no sharp blast
     Of bitter fate or circumstance can chill,
          My life with thine grows strong or fails or dies.[Page 185]