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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
RETROSPECT, by FREDERICK WILLIAM HENRY MYERS Poet's Biography
First Line: Alas, the darkened vault of day
Last Line: A soundless echo of his sin.
Alternate Author Name(s): Myers, Frederic
Subject(s): Memory
First Line: Alas, the darkened vault of day
Last Line: A soundless echo of his sin.
Alternate Author Name(s): Myers, Frederic
Subject(s): Memory
I
ALAS, the darkened vault of day!
The fading stars that shine no more!—
Alas, mine eyes that cloud with grey
That beauty lucid as before!
Alone on some deserted shore,
Forgetting happy hope, I stand,
And to my own sad self deplore
The stillness of the empty land.
II
And I am he who long ago,—
(How well my heart recalls it yet!)—
Beheld an early sun and low
In fields I never shall forget;
The roses round were bright and wet
And all the garden clear with dew,
In pleasant paths my steps were set
And life was young and love was new.
III
How changed is this from that estate!
How vexed with unfamiliar fears!
And from that child more separate
Than friend from friend of other years,
Who strains quick sight and eager ears
Forgiveness from the dead to win,
But only sees the dark, and hears
A soundless echo of his sin.
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