Seth

“He Is Not Dead."

I cannot say, and I will not say

that he is dead. He is just away.

With a cheery smile, and a wave of the hand,

he has wandered into an unknown land

and left us dreaming how very fair

it needs must be, since he lingers there.

And you—oh you, who the wildest yearn

for an old-time step, and the glad return,

think of him faring on, as dear

in the love of There as the love of Here.

Think of him still as the same. I say,

he is not dead—he is just away.”

― James Whitcomb Riley