Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE HALF-WAY HOUSE, by CAROLINE CLIVE First Line: Look back, look back! The height is won Last Line: Thou heardest the song of life begin. Alternate Author Name(s): V; Meysey-wigley, Caroline | ||||||||
-- 'that half-way house, that rude Hut, whence wise travellers drive with circumspection Life's sad post-horses o'er the dreary frontier Of age, and looking back to youth to give one tear.' DON JUAN, canto x., verse 27. LOOK back, look back! the height is won, The journey of thy youth is done; Thou hast pass'd the clime of flow'rs, The solemn snow above thee tow'rs, Look back! thou never, never more Wilt breathe the air thou breath'dst before. There they lie, those tender hues Veil'd in thickly-rising dews, There they sleep, those tones so dear Which woke and charm'd thy youthful ear; Never more the flow'rs or strain Shalt thou see or hear again; They were thine, and that is gone, Time of such seasons has but one; All was new -- thy heart and all, Passion, Duty, Hope, Delight, And where'er thine eye could fall There were objects fresh and bright. Age must take those fairy things And from them fashion all he feels; But his hand is cold, and flings A dampness o'er Life's tuneful strings That half their music steals. His fingers change the early key, And play it slow and solemnly; Stiff and cold, and oft repeated Is the strain wherein 'tis meted. Not like Youth, for he can make The soul of ev'ry string awake; Delicate, light, and swift, his hand Flies o'er the lyre and bids it sing Till the very heart in reply will ring And feel itself all in fairy land. Look back! for there is the scene wherein Thou heardest the song of Life begin. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AN AUGUST EVENING, 1865 by CAROLINE CLIVE AT LLYNCWMSTRAETHY by CAROLINE CLIVE AUGUST, 1865 by CAROLINE CLIVE BEATEN TO DEATH by CAROLINE CLIVE EPITAPH FOR A YOUNG LADY by CAROLINE CLIVE FRIENDS OF YOUTH by CAROLINE CLIVE |
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