THE KASÎDAH III, 91, 106

Ah! gay the day with shine of sun,
 and bright the breeze, and blithe the throng
Met on the River-bank to play,
 when I was young, when I was young:

Such general joy could never fade;
 and yet the chilling whisper came
One face had paled, one form had failed;
 had fled the bank, had swum the stream;

Still revellers danced, and sang, and trod
 the hither bank of Time’s deep tide,
Still one by one they left and fared
 to the far misty thither side;

And now the last hath slipt away
 yon drear Death-desert to explore,
And now one Pilgrim worn and lorn
 still lingers on the lonely shore.