Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, YOUTH AND AGE, by ROBERT SOUTHEY


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

YOUTH AND AGE, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: With cheerful step the traveller
Last Line: The fears of wary age!
Subject(s): Life; Mist; Old Age; Pain; Pleasure; Travel; Youth; Suffering; Misery; Journeys; Trips


WITH cheerful step the traveller
Pursues his early way,
When first the dimly-dawning east
Reveals the rising day.

He bounds along his craggy road,
He hastens up the height,
And all he sees and all he hears,
But only give delight.

And if the mist retiring slow,
Roll round its wavy white,
He thinks the morning vapours hide
Some beauty from his sight.

But when behind the western clouds
Departs the fading day,
How wearily the traveller
Pursues his evening way!

Then sorely o'er the craggy road
His painful footsteps creep,
And slow with many a feeble pause,
He labours up the steep.

And if the mists of night close round,
They fill his soul with fear;
He dreads some unseen precipice,
Some hidden danger near.

So cheerfully does youth begin
Life's pleasant morning stage;
Alas! the evening traveller feels
The fears of wary age!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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