Collected English Verse — Alfred Tennyson, Lord Tennyson. b. 1809, d. 1892 (Part 7 of 7)

Two dead men have I known
 In courtesy like to thee:
Two dead men have I loved
 With a love that ever will be:
 Three dead men have I loved, and thou art last of the three.

718   Crossing the Bar

SUNSET and evening star,
   And one clear call for me!
And may there be no moaning of the bar,
   When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep,
   Too full for sound and foam,
When that which drew from out the boundless deep
   Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,
   And after that the dark!
And may there be no sadness of farewell,
   When I embark;

For tho’ from out our bourne of Time and Place
   The flood may bear me far,
I hope to see my Pilot face to face
   When I have crost the bar.

719   O that ’twere possible

O THAT ’twere possible
After long grief and pain
To find the arms of my true love
Round me once again! ...

A shadow flits before me,
Not thou, but like to thee:
Ah, Christ! that it were possible
For one short hour to see
The souls we loved, that they might tell us
What and where they be!