Classic and Contemporary Poetry
LINES ON GROWING OLD, by JAMES RYDER RANDALL Poet's Biography First Line: I know not why, in my old age Last Line: So I, one day, to god ascend! Subject(s): Aging; Heaven; Life; Paradise | ||||||||
I KNOW not why, in my old age, That I am poor and in distress; A vigorous prisoner in a cage, Alert in mind, with health to bless; Ripened in years, with wiser ways Than in my callow youthful days. I am forsakenin the cold, Only because I have grown old. What matters that, in worldly strife, I lead an upright, temperate life Have vital sap in all my veins And summer lightning in my brains What matters that I still can write Up to my once meridian flight To every plea one tale is told: "We want you not; you are too old!" But God knows why I am forlorn: There is a better brighter land Where Lazarus, in eternal morn, Sees Dives with his burning brand. Thus helmeted with Faith and Hope, I cheerly wait the coming end, Content on this poor earth to grope, So I, one day, to God ascend! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE END OF LIFE by PHILIP JAMES BAILEY SEVEN TWILIGHTS: 6 by CONRAD AIKEN THE BOOK OF THE DEAD MAN (#19): 2. MORE ABOUT THE DEAD MAN AND WINTER by MARVIN BELL THE WORLDS IN THIS WORLD by LAURE-ANNE BOSSELAAR A SKELETON FOR MR. PAUL IN PARADISE; AFTER ALLAN GUISINGER by NORMAN DUBIE BEAUTY & RESTRAINT by DANIEL HALPERN HOW IT WILL HAPPEN, WHEN by DORIANNE LAUX IF THIS IS PARADISE by DORIANNE LAUX JOHN PELHAM by JAMES RYDER RANDALL |
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