After the Supper and TalkAfter the supper and talk—after the day is done,As a friend from friends his final withdrawal prolonging,Good-bye and Good-bye with emotional lips repeating,(So hard for his hand to release those hands—no more will they meet,No more for communion of sorrow and joy, of old and young,A far-stretching journey awaits him, to return no more,)Shunning, postponing severance—seeking to ward off the last wordever so little,E’en at the exit-door turning—charges superfluous calling back—e’en as he descends the steps,Something to eke out a minute additional—shadows of nightfall deepening,Farewells, messages lessening—dimmer the forthgoer’s visage and form,Soon to be lost for aye in the darkness—loth, O so loth to depart!Garrulous to the very last.
After the supper and talk—after the day is done,As a friend from friends his final withdrawal prolonging,Good-bye and Good-bye with emotional lips repeating,(So hard for his hand to release those hands—no more will they meet,No more for communion of sorrow and joy, of old and young,A far-stretching journey awaits him, to return no more,)Shunning, postponing severance—seeking to ward off the last wordever so little,E’en at the exit-door turning—charges superfluous calling back—e’en as he descends the steps,Something to eke out a minute additional—shadows of nightfall deepening,Farewells, messages lessening—dimmer the forthgoer’s visage and form,Soon to be lost for aye in the darkness—loth, O so loth to depart!Garrulous to the very last.