I cannot say and I will not say
That he is dead, he is just away.
With a cheery smile and a wave of hand
He has wandered into an unknown land;
And left us dreaming how very fair
Its needs must be, since he lingers there.
And you-oh you, who the wildest yearn
From the old-time step and the glad return-
Think of him faring on, as dear
In the love of there, as the love of here
Think of him still the same way, I say;
He is not dead, he is just away.
The poem gently insists that the deceased is not ‘dead’ but simply ‘away’ in a beautiful, unknown land. It encourages loved ones to think of the person as unchanged and still loved, minimizing the finality of death and offering a sense of peaceful transition.