Consolation

Consolation

Original Text
Robert Louis Stevenson, Collected Poems, 2nd edn., ed. Janet Adam Smith (London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1971): 71-72. PR 5489 .A3 Robarts Library
1Though he, that ever kind and true,
2Kept stoutly step by step with you,
3Your whole long, gusty lifetime through,
4    Be gone a while before,
5Be now a moment gone before,
6Yet, doubt not, soon the seasons shall restore
7    Your friend to you.
8He has but turned the corner -- still
9He pushes on with right good will,
11    That self-same arduous way --
12That self-same upland, hopeful way,
13That you and he through many a doubtful day
14    Attempted still.
15He is not dead, this friend -- not dead,
16But in the path we mortals tread
17Got some few, trifling steps ahead
18    And nearer to the end;
19So that you too, once past the bend,
20Shall meet again, as face to face, this friend
21    You fancy dead.
22Push gaily on, strong heart! The while
23You travel forward mile by mile,
24He loiters with a backward smile
25    Till you can overtake,
26And strains his eyes to search his wake,
27Or whistling, as he sees you through the brake,

Notes

10] heugh: cliff. Back to Line
28] stile: steps across a fence that allow people to pass, but not animals. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1899
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2003
Rhyme