As drifting logs of wood may haply meet
On ocean's waters surging to and fro,
And having met, drift once again apart,
So, fleeting is the intercourse of men.
E'en as a traveler meeting with the shade
Of some o'erhung tree, awhile reposes,
Then leaves its shelter to pursue his ways,
So men meet friends, then part with them for ever.
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The joy of meeting not unmixed with pain.
The joy of meeting not unmixed with pain.
In life there are meetings which seem
Like a fate.
In life there are meetings which seem
Like a fate.
When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
When shall we three meet again
In thunder, lightning, or in rain?
Alas, by what rude fate
Our lives, like ships at sea, an instant meet,
Then part forever read more
Alas, by what rude fate
Our lives, like ships at sea, an instant meet,
Then part forever on their courses fleet.
Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing,
Only a signal shown and a distant read more
Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing,
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness:
So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,
As vessels starting from ports thousands of miles apart pass
close to each other in the naked breadth of read more
As vessels starting from ports thousands of miles apart pass
close to each other in the naked breadth of the ocean, nay,
sometimes even touch in the dark.
Two lives that once part, are as ships that divide
When, moment on moment, there rushes between
read more
Two lives that once part, are as ships that divide
When, moment on moment, there rushes between
The one and the other, a sea;--
Ah, never can fall from the days that have been
A gleam on the years that shall be!
Like a plank of driftwood
Tossed on the watery main,
Another plank encountered,
Meets, read more
Like a plank of driftwood
Tossed on the watery main,
Another plank encountered,
Meets, touches, parts again;
So tossed, and drifting ever,
On life's unresting sea,
Men meet, and greet, and sever,
Parting eternally.
