Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE PILGRIM, by CARROLL RYAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE PILGRIM, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: O, tree of life! The storms of years are shaking
Last Line: Farewell to all my dreams! Farewell to earth!
Alternate Author Name(s): Ryan, William Thomas Carroll
Subject(s): Pilgrimages & Pilgrims


O, tree of life! the storms of years are shaking
Thy fruit to earth, while comes autumnal night,
And one by one the ties of time are breaking,
While one by one my loves are taking flight.

Behold, the high resolves of youth are ended;
No more I chase the phantom of my quest.
My work is now complete. I have ascended
The last high peak to view the land of rest.

The sunbeams thro' the mountains backward slanting
Tell me the night is near, the goal below;
I hear inviting voices welcomes chanting;—
Give me my robe and staff, and let me go.

Love, fame, ambition, all the phantom glories
That lured me hither, leave me now alone;
The woeful moral of forgotten stories
I write, forgetting, on this wayside stone.

I see the footprints others made before me,
And I will follow them into the gloom,
While these poor flow'rs that I have gathered gore me
With thorns that fittingly may deck a tomb.

Farewell to all I love! Beyond the river
Are white-robed visions of immortal birth.
Behold, the hand that taketh was the giver.
Farewell to all my dreams! Farewell to earth!





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