We parted where the old gas-lamp still burned <br />Under the wayside maple and walked on, <br />Into the dark, as we had always done; <br />And I, no doubt, if he had not returned, <br />Might yet be unaware that he had earned <br />More than earth gives to many who have won <br />More than it has to give when they are gone-- <br />As duly and indelibly I learned. <br /> <br />The sum of all that he came back to say <br />Was little then, and would be less today: <br />With him there were no Delphic heights to climb, <br />Yet his were somehow nearer the sublime. <br />He spoke, and went again by the old way-- <br />Not knowing it would be for the last time.<br /><br />Edwin Arlington Robinson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/afterthoughts/
