Classic Poem

Farewell ! Farewell! is often heard
From the lips of those who part:
'Tis a whispered tone, 'tis a gentle word,
But it springs not from the heart.
It may serve for the lover's lay,
To be sung 'neath a summer sky.
But give me the lips that say
The honest words, " Good-bye! "

Adieu! Adieu! may greet the ear
In the guise of courtly speech;
But when we leave the kind and dear,
'Tis not what the soul would teach.
Whene'er we grasp the hands of those
We would have for ever nigh,
The flame of friendship burns and glows
In the warm, frank words, " Good-bye! "

The mother sending forth her child
To meet with cares and strife,
Breathes through her tears her doubts and fears
For the loved one's future life.
No cold " adieu, " no " farewell " lives
Within her choking sigh;
But the deepest sob of anguish gives,
" God bless thee, boy! — good-bye! "

Go, watch the pale and dying one,
When the glance has lost its beam —
When the brow is cold as the marble-stone,
And the world a passing dream;
And the latest pressure of the hand,
The look of the closing eye,
Yield what the heart must understand —
A long, a last " Good-bye. "