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On The Way To Kew

By William Ernest Henley

Topics: classic

On the way to Kew,     By the river old and gray,     Where in the Long Ago     We laughed and loitered so,     I met a ghost to-day,     A ghost that told of you -     A ghost of low replies     And sweet, inscrutable eyes     Coming up from Richmond     As you used to do.     By the river old and gray,     The enchanted Long Ago     Murmured and smiled anew.     On the way to Kew,     March had the laugh of May,     The bare boughs looked aglow,     And old, immortal words     Sang in my breast like birds,     Coming up from Richmond     As I used with you.     With the life of Long Ago     Lived my thought of you.     By the river old and gray     Flowing his appointed way     As I watched I knew     What is so good to know -     Not in vain, not in vain,     Shall I look for you again     Coming up from Richmond     On the way to Kew.

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"On the way to Kew,..."

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Author:William Ernest Henley

"On the way to Kew,..." by William Ernest Henley

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William Ernest Henley

About William Ernest Henley

William Ernest Henley (1849–1903) was an English poet, critic, and editor best known for his poem "Invictus" ("I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul"). Written while recovering from tuberculosis of the bone, it has become one of the most quoted poems of courage and resilience.

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