Far Away

"Far Away!" what does it mean?
A change of heart with a change of place?
When footsteps pass from scene to scene,
Fades soul from soul with face from face?
Are hearts the slaves or lords of space?

"Far Away!" what does it mean?
Does distance sever there from here?
Can leagues of land part hearts? -- I ween
They cannot; for the trickling tear
Says "Far Away" means "Far More Near".

"Far Away!" -- the mournful miles
Are but the mystery of space
That blends our sighs, but parts our smiles,
For love will find a meeting place
When face is farthest off from face.

"Far Away!" we meet in dreams,
As 'round the altar of the night
Far-parted stars send down their gleams
To meet in one embrace of light
And make the brow of darkness bright.

"Far Away!" we meet in tears,
That tell the path of weary feet;
And all the good-byes of the years
But make the wanderer's welcome sweet,
The rains of parted clouds thus meet.

"Far Away!" we meet in prayer,
You know the temple and the shrine;
Before it bows the brow of care,
Upon it tapers dimly shine;
'Tis mercy's home, and yours and mine.

"Far Away!" it falls between
What is to-day and what has been;
But ah! what is meet, what is not,
In every hour and every spot,
Where lips breathe on "I have forgot."

"Far Away!" there is no far!
Nor days nor distance e'er can bar
My spirit from your spirits -- nay,
Farewell may waft a face away,
But still with you my heart will stay.

"Far Away!" I sing its song,
But while the music moves along,
From out each word an echo clear
Falls trembling on my spirit's ear,
"Far Away" means "Far More Near".

Abram Joseph Ryan

Abram Joseph Ryan was an American poet, Catholic priest, and former Confederate chaplain. Known as the 'Poet-Priest of the South,' his most famous work is 'The Conquered Banner.' Ryan wrote many poems that reflected his Southern heritage and the American Civil War. His works often possess a spiritual and melancholic tone, inspired by the losses of the war and his religious faith. In addition to poetry, he also wrote essays and gave public speeches.

Abram Joseph Ryan

Dreamland

Abram Joseph Ryan, Simple Poetry

At Last

Abram Joseph Ryan, Simple Poetry

After Sickness

Abram Joseph Ryan, Simple Poetry

The Conquered Banner

Abram Joseph Ryan, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Gone

S. M. A.



Gone! and there's not a gleam of you,
Faces that float into far away;
Gone! and we can only dream of you
Each as you fade like a star away.
Fade as a star in the sky from us,
Vainly we look for your light again;
Hear ye the sound of a sigh from us?
"Come!" and our hearts will be bright again.

Come! and gaze on our face once more,
Bring us the smiles of the olden days;
Come! and shine in your place once more,
And change the dark into golden days.
Gone! gone! gone! Joy is fled for us;
Gone into the night of the nevermore,
And darkness rests where you shed for us
A light we will miss ~forevermore~.

Faces! ye come in the night to us;
Shadows! ye float in the sky of sleep;
Shadows! ye bring nothing bright to us;...

Abram Joseph Ryan

Farewells

They are so sad to say: no poem tells
The agony of hearts that dwells
In lone and last farewells.

They are like deaths: they bring a wintry chill
To summer's roses, and to summer's rill;
And yet we breathe them still.

For pure as altar-lights hearts pass away;
Hearts! we said to them, "Stay with us! stay!"
And they said, sighing as they said it, "Nay."

The sunniest days are shortest; darkness tells
The starless story of the night that dwells
In lone and last farewells.

Two faces meet here, there, or anywhere:
Each wears the thoughts the other face may wear;
Their hearts may break, breathing, "Farewell fore'er."

Abram Joseph Ryan

Parting

Farewell! that word has broken hearts
And blinded eyes with tears;
Farewell! one stays, and one departs;
Between them roll the years.

No wonder why who say it think --
Farewell! he may fare ill
No wonder that their spirits sink
And all their hopes grow chill.

Good-bye! that word makes faces pale
And fills the soul with fears;
Good-bye! two words that wing a wail
Which flutters down the years.

No wonder they who say it feel
Such pangs for those who go;
Good-bye they wish the parted weal,
But ah! they may meet woe.

Adieu! such is the word for us,
'Tis more than word -- 'tis prayer;
They do not part, who do part thus,
For God is everywhere.

Abram Joseph Ryan

Farfaraway

What sight so lured him thro the fields he knew
As where earths green stole into heavens own hue,

Farfaraway?

What sound was dearest in his native dells?
The mellow lin-lan-lone of evening bells

Farfaraway.

What vague world-whisper, mystic pain or joy,
Thro those three words would haunt him when a boy,

Farfaraway?

A whisper from his dawn of life? a breath
From some fair dawn beyond the doors of death

Farfaraway?

Far, far, how far? from oer the gates of Birth,
The faint horizons, all the bounds of earth,

Farfaraway?

What charm in words, a charm no words could give?
O dying words, can Music make you live

Farfaraway?

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Lines ["Sometimes, from the far-away,"]

Sometimes, from the far-away,
Wing a little thought to me;
In the night or in the day,
It will give a rest to me.

I have praise of many here,
And the world gives me renown;
Let it go -- give me one tear,
'Twill be a jewel in my crown.

What care I for earthly fame?
How I shrink from all its glare!
I would rather that my name
Would be shrined in some one's prayer.

Many hearts are all too much,
Or too little in their praise;
I would rather feel the touch
Of one prayer that thrills all days.

Abram Joseph Ryan

The Last Farewell

LINES WRITTEN BY THE AUTHOR'S BROTHER, EDWARD BLISS EMERSON, WHILST SAILING OUT OF BOSTON HARBOR, BOUND FOR THE ISLAND OF PORTO RICO, IN 1832

Farewell, ye lofty spires
That cheered the holy light!
Farewell, domestic fires
That broke the gloom of night!
Too soon those spires are lost,
Too fast we leave the bay,
Too soon by ocean tost
From hearth and home away,
Far away, far away.

Farewell the busy town,
The wealthy and the wise,
Kind smile and honest frown
From bright, familiar eyes.
All these are fading now;
Our brig hastes on her way,
Her unremembering prow
Is leaping o'er the sea,
Far away, far away.

Farewell, my mother fond,
Too kind, too good to me;
Nor pearl nor diamond
Would pay my debt to thee.
But ev...

Ralph Waldo Emerson