FAREWELL.
Another said, Lord, I will follow Thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.—Luke, ix. 61.
When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; but bade them farewell.—Acts, xviii. 20, 21.
Finally, brethren, farewell.—II. Corinthians, xiii. 11.
Farewell! There is a spell within the word:
Methinks I never heard it sound so mournful;
Oh, thou subdued, oft scarce articulate sound,
How powerful thou art! How strong to move
The hidden strings that guide us puppet mortals!
Pass-word of memory—of by-gone days—
Thou everlasting epitaph—is there
A land in which thou hast no dwelling-place?
Wherein may be nor pageantry nor pride,
Nor altars, save the pure one of the heart,
Nor tombs, except for sorrow; and no tears;
There is a world, Oh God, where human lips
May say Farewell! no more.
Dilnot Sladden.
When eyes are beaming
What never tongue might tell,
When tears are streaming
From their crystal cell:
When hands are link’d that dread to part,
And heart is met by throbbing heart.
Oh! bitter, bitter is the smart
Of them that bid Farewell!
When hope is chidden,
That fain of bliss would tell,
And love forbidden
In the breast to dwell:
When fettered by a viewless chain,
We turn and gaze, and turn again;
Oh! death were mercy to the pain
Of them that bid Farewell.
Bishop Heber.
’Tis well, if well thou farest
Upon thy heavenly way;
With joy the lips that love thee
Then Fare-thee-well may say.
Egone.