-I-
Life and Thought have gone away
Side by side,
Leaving door and windows wide;
Careless tenants they!
-II-
All within is dark as night:
In the windows is no light;
And no murmur at the door,
So frequent on its hinge before.
-III-
Close the door, the shutters close,
Or thro’ the windows we shall see
The nakedness and vacancy
Of the dark deserted house.
-IV-
Come away; no more of mirth
Is here or merry-making sound.
The house was builded of the earth,
And shall fall again to ground.
-V-
Come away; for Life and Thought
Here no longer dwell,
But in a city glorious–
A great and distant city–have bought
A mansion incorruptible.
Would they could have stayed with us!
-The Deserted House by Alfred, Lord Tennyson