The Further Side of Silence/L'Envoi
L'ENVOI
To My Brethren in Malaya
The grim Recording Angel turns the pages of the Book,
And the days are thrust behind us past recall—
All the sorrows that we tasted, all the pleasure that we took
In that life we shared together, Brothers all!
But to-day the forest whispers and to-day the ungkas whoop,
Where the big, slow river lumbers down to meet the sun-lit sea,
And the village drones and drowses while the palm-fronds lift or droop,
For the old life glideth onward still—with ne'er a place for me.
In the hut and in the palace, in the sun-fleck'd forest glade,
Where the vast trees crowding stagger 'neath their load of fern and vine,
In that world of untouched Nature, 'mid the marvels God hath made,
You are living on in listlessness the life that once was mine.
Hark! I eatch the thud of tom-toms, and the drone of old-world song,
The sleepy hum of insects, and the rush of startled beast—
And I lack the words to tell you, O my Brothers, how I long
For the glory and the glamour and the wonder of the East.
You be far—too far—my Brothers, gnarled brown faces that I know,
Men who dealt with me aforetime, friend with friend and heart with heart—
Our paths lie worlds asunder, since the Fates would have it so,
For behold "the Order reached me,"[1] and to-day, old Friends, we part.
Yet you will not quite forget me, O my Brothers over sea—
Let me keep that fond illusion: it will help me on my way—
And I pray you tell the little ones, who gather round your knee,
Of those days we saw together in the land of the Malay.
And my thanks are yours, my Brothers, for a thousand acts of grace,
For the trust wherewith you trusted, for the love wherewith you loved.
For your honest, open greetings, lifted hand and friendly face,
For the kindness that you dealt me when through all your land I roved.
It was mine to toil and struggle, it was mine to war with wrong,
It was mine to labour for you, aye, to sorrow, hope, and yearn;
But I'll shout it from the house-tops from Barbados to Hong-Kong —
If to you I rendered service, I from you had most to learn.
- ↑ Sudah sampai hukum—"The Order bath come!" A Malayan euphemism signifying that such-an-one has died.