John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). The Poetical Works in Four Volumes. 1892.
Occasional PoemsThe Reunion
T
We stretch our welcoming hands across;
The distance but a pebble’s toss
Between us and our youth appears.
The remnant of a once full list;
Conning our lessons, undismissed,
With faces to the setting sun.
And some await the call to rest;
Who knoweth whether it is best
For those who went or those who stay?
If faith and love and hope remain,
Our length of days is not in vain,
And life is well worth living still.
The thanks of grateful hearts are due,
For blessings when our lives were new,
For all the good vouchsafed us since.
The wish denied, the purpose crossed,
And pleasure’s fond occasions lost,
Were mercies to our small desert.
Gray pilgrims, to our ancient ways,
And tender memories of old days
Walk with us by the Merrimac;
A sense of youth comes back again,
As through this cool September rain
The still green woodlands dream of June.
Have keener sight for bygone years,
And sweet and clear, in deafening ears,
The bird that sang at morning sings.
Send from their homes their kindly word,
And dearer ones, unseen, unheard,
Smile on us from some heavenly star.
Unchanged by seeming change His care
And love are round us here and there;
He breaks no thread His hand has spun.
Of life eternal has no gaps;
And after half a century’s lapse
Our school-day ranks are closed and whole.
Where shadows end, we trust in light;
The star that ushers in the night
Is herald also of the day!