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Henley


William Ernest Henley
1849-1903

 
"Where Forlorn Sunsets
Flare and Fade"

 
Where forlorn sunsets flare and fade
      On desolate sea and lonely sand,
Out of the silence and the shade
      What is the voice of strange command
Calling you still, as friend calls friend
      With love that cannot brook delay
To rise and follow the ways that wend
      Over the hills and far away?

Hark in the city, street on street
      A roaring reach of death and life,
Of vortices that clash and fleet
      And ruin in appointed strife,
Hark to it calling, calling clear,
      Calling until you cannot stay
From dearer things than your own most dear
      Over the hills and far away?

Out of the sound of the ebb-and-flow,
      Out of the sight of the lamp and star,
It calls you where the good winds blow,
      And the unchanging meadows are;
From faded hopes and hopes agleam,
      It calls you, calls you night and day
Beyond the dark into the dream
      Over the hills and far away.

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