© Geoff Harris, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0. Source
Bluebells on Ivinghoe Common near Ashridge on Hertfordshire.
A Farewell
A dying parent gives one last piece of advice to a beloved daughter.
MY fairest child, I have no song to give you;
No lark could pipe to skies so dull and grey;
Yet, ere we part, one lesson I can leave you
For every day.
Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever;
Do noble things, not dream them all day long:
And so make life, death, and that vast forever
One grand, sweet song.
Précis
Kingsley writes in the person of a loving parent who, at the point of leaving the world, gives his daughter one last word of advice: to be good, not simply in wish but in deed. That will turn their parting’s brief sorrow into an eternal joy in reunion. (48 / 60 words)
