Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, COMMENCEMENT POEM: 5. RETROSPECT, by EDWARD ROWLAND SILL


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

COMMENCEMENT POEM: 5. RETROSPECT, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Not all which we have been
Last Line: Worth more than all earth's joys to which we climb.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hedbrooke, Andrew
Subject(s): Commencement


Not all which we have been
Do we remain,
Nor on the dial-hearts of men
Do the years mark themselves in vain;
But every cloud that in our sky hath passed,
Some gloom or glory hath upon us cast;
And there have fallen from us, as we traveled,
Many a burden of an ancient pain --
Many a tangled cord hath been unraveled,
Never to bind our foolish hearts again.
Old loves have left us, lingeringly and slow,
As melts away the distant strain of low
Sweet music -- waking us from troubled dreams,
Lulling to holier ones -- that dies afar
On the deep night, as if by silver beams
Claspt to the trembling breast of some charmed star.
And we have stood and watched, all wistfully,
While fluttering hopes have died out of our lives,
As one who follows with a straining eye
A bird that far, far-off fades in the sky,
A little rocking speck -- now lost -- and still he strives
A moment to recover it -- in vain,
Then slowly turns back to his work again.
But loves and hopes have left us in their place,
Thank God! a gentle grace,
A patience, a belief in His good time,
Worth more than all earth's joys to which we climb.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net