After I Have Gone Speak my name softly after I have gone. I loved the quiet things, the flowers and the dew, Field mice; birds homing; and the frost that shone On nursery windows when my years were few; And autumn mists subduing hill and plain and blurring outlines of those older moods that follow, after loss and grief and pain - And last and best, a gentle laugh with friends, All bitterness foregone, and evening near. If we be kind and faithful when day ends, We shall not meet that ragged starveling 'fear' As one by one we take the unknown way - Speak my name softly - there's no more to say -