I was so moved by this poem that I had to write a song around it.
Lyrics
Brother where do you dwell
What sun shines for you now?
Do you indeed farewell?
As we wished here below.
What season did you find?
It was winter here.
Aren’t the fates more kind
Than they appear?
Is your brow clear again
As in your youthful years?
And was that ugly pain
The summit of your fears?
Yet you were cheery still,
They could not quench your fire,
You did abide their will,
And then you retired.
Where chiefly shall I look
To feel your presence near?
Along the neighboring brook
May I your voice still hear?
Do you still haunt the brink
Of yonder river’s tide?
And may I ever think
That you are at my side?
I was the strongest here
Of studiest pace
Say am I still your peer
In your foot face?
For then as now I trust
I always lagged behind
While you ever first
Cutting the wind
When on the pond I whirl
In sport, if sport maybe.
But now that you are gone
May I still follow thee?
Brother where do you dwell
What sun shines for you now?
Do you indeed farewell?
As we wished here below.
