Envoy

Francis Thompson 1859 (City of Preston, Lancashire) – 1907 (London)



Go, songs, for ended is our brief, sweet play;
Go, children of swift joy and tardy sorrow:
And some are sung, and that was yesterday,
And some unsung, and that may be to-morrow.

Go forth; and if it be o'er stony way,
Old joy can lend what newer grief must borrow:
And it was sweet, and that was yesterday,
And sweet is sweet, though purchas-ed with sorrow.

Go, songs, and come not back from your far way:
And if men ask you why ye smile and sorrow,
Tell them ye grieve, for your hearts know To-day,
Tell them ye smile, for your eyes know To-morrow.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

32 sec read
46

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABAB ABAB ABAB
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 545
Words 107
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4

Francis Thompson

The Rt Rev Francis William Banahene Thompson was Bishop of Accra from 1983 to 1996. more…

All Francis Thompson poems | Francis Thompson Books

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