Читать книгу Rubble and Roseleaves and Things of That Kind - Frank William Boreham - Страница 9
IV
ОглавлениеAnd, last and saddest of all, there is the bell that we did not ring. We half thought of it; we heard afterwards how welcome a call would have been; but the contemplated visit was not paid.
Around the corner I have a friend,
In the great city that has no end.
Yet days go by and weeks rush on,
And before I know it a year is gone;
And I never see my old friend's face,
For life is a swift and terrible race.
He knows I love him just as well
As in the days when I rang his bell
And he rang mine. We were younger then,
And now we are busy, tired men—
Tired with playing a foolish game,
Tired with trying to make a name.
'To-morrow,' I say, 'I will call on Jim,
Just to show that I'm thinking of him.'
But to-morrow comes and to-morrow goes,
And the distance between us grows and grows,
Around the corner—yet miles away....
'Here's a telegram, sir.' 'Jim died to-day!'
And that's what we get and deserve in the end—
Around the corner a vanished friend.
I really intended to have pressed the button at Jim's door; but the good intentions did not ring the bell; and I am left to nurse my lifelong remorse.
I really intended to have answered the door when a Visitor Divine stood gently knocking there; but the good intention did not let Him in; He turned sadly and wearily away; and I am left to my shame and my everlasting regret.