William Ernest Henley: End

William Ernest Henley was English poet, critic and editor. Explore interesting quotes on end.

William Ernest Henley: 58 quotes 1 like

“You played and sang a snatch of song,
A song that all-too well we knew;
But whither had flown the ancient wrong;
And was it really I and you?
O, since the end of life's to live
And pay in pence the common debt,
What should it cost us to forgive
Whose daily task is to forget?”

William Ernest Henley

Source: Poems (1898), Rhymes And Rhythms, XV

Life , Forgiveness , Forgetting

“Life — give me life until the end,
That at the very top of being,
The battle-spirit shouting in my blood,
Out of the reddest hell of the fight
I may be snatched and flung
Into the everlasting lull,
The immortal, incommunicable dream.”

William Ernest Henley

Source: Poems (1898), Rhymes And Rhythms, XVI

Life , Dreams , Hell , Fight

“Friends . . old friends. . .
So it breaks, so it ends.
There let it rest.
It has fought and won,
And is still the best
That either has done.
Each as he stands
The work of its hands,
Which shall be more
As he was before?
What is it ends
With friends?”

William Ernest Henley

A Book of Verses (1888)

“Friends . . old friends. . .
One sees how it ends.
A woman looks
Or a man tells lies,
And the pleasant brooks
And the quiet skies,
Ruined with brawling
And caterwauling,
Enchant no more
As they did before;
And so it ends
with friends.

Friends . . old friends . . .
And what if it ends?
Shall we dare to shirk
What we live to learn?
It has done its work,
It has served its turn;
And, forgive and forget
Or canker and fret,
We can be no more
As we were before.
When it ends it ends
with friends.”

William Ernest Henley

A Book of Verses (1888)

Forgiveness , Forgetting , Learning