Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, OF THE LAST VERSES IN THE BOOK, by EDMUND WALLER



Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

OF THE LAST VERSES IN THE BOOK, by             Poem Explanation     Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: When we for age could neither read nor write
Last Line: That stand upon the threshold of the new.
Variant Title(s): The Self Banished (1);on The Foregoing Divine Poems;of His Divine Poems;on The Last Verses In His Book
Subject(s): Death; Poetry & Poets; Dead, The


When we for age could neither read nor write,
The subject made us able to indite;
The soul with nobler resolutions decked,
The body stooping, does herself erect.
No mortal parts are requisite to raise
Her that, unbodied, can her Maker praise.
The seas are quiet when the winds give o'er;
So calm are we when passions are no more!
For then we know how vain it was to boast
Of fleeting things, so certain to be lost.
Clouds of affection from our younger eyes
Conceal that emptiness which age descries.
The soul's dark cottage, battered and decayed,
Lets in new light through chinks that time has made;
Stronger by weakness, wiser men become,
As they draw near to their eternal home.
Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view,
That stand upon the threshold of the new.




Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...



Home: PoetryExplorer.net