Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, EBB TIDE, by ROBERT SOUTHEY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

EBB TIDE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Slowly thy flowing tide
Last Line: Then hasten to old age!
Subject(s): Aging; Avon (river), England; Rivers; Tides


Slowly thy flowing tide
Came in, old Avon! scarcely did mine eyes,
As watchful I roam'd thy green-wood side,
Perceive its gentle rise.
With many a stroke and strong
The labouring boatmen upward plied their oars,
Yet little way they made, though labouring long
Between thy winding shores.
Now down thine ebbing tide
The unlaboured boat falls rapidly along;
The solitary helms-man sits to guide,
And sings an idle song.
Now o'er the rocks, that lay
So silent late, the shallow current roars;
Fast flow thy waters on their sea-ward way
Thro' wider-spreading shores.
Avon! I gaze and know
The lesson emblemed in thy varying way;
It speaks of human joys that rise so slow,
So rapidly decay.
Kingdoms that long have stood,
And slow to strength and power attain'd at last,
Thus from the summit of high fortune's flood
Ebb to their ruin fast.
Thus like thy flow appears
Time's tardy course to manhood's envied stage;
Alas! how hurryingly the ebbing years
Then hasten to old age!






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