I thought of Thee, my partner and my guide, <br />As being past away. -Vain sympathies! <br />For backward, Duddon! as I cast my eyes, <br />I see what was, and is, and will abide; <br />Still glides the Stream, and shall not cease to glide; <br />The Form remains, the Function never dies; <br />While we, the brave, the mighty, and the wise, <br />We Men, who in our morn of youth defied <br />The elements, must vanish; -be it so! <br />Enough, if something from our hands have power <br />To live, and act, and serve the future hour; <br />And if, as toward the silent tomb we go, <br />Through love, through hope, and faith's transcendent dower, <br />We feel that we are greater than we know.<br /><br />Alfred Lord Tennyson<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/after-thought-3/
