Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE CASTLE OF TWENTY YEARS HENCE, by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS Poet's Biography First Line: I'm a common young fellow, I don't own a mine Last Line: Your castle of twenty years hence. Subject(s): Hope; Optimism | ||||||||
I'm a common young fellow, I don't own a mine, And I needs must look after the pence, Yet, my lad, I am lord of a castle divine, The castle of Twenty Years Hence. I have worries and flurries and trial and doubt, I have trouble of body and brain, Just like all the creatures that travel about These highways of joy and of pain. But a leap of the mind, lad, and lo! I'm secure From those sorrows of soul and of sense, For I've entered a fortress where solace is sure, The castle of Twenty Years Hence. What matters it, pray, though some scoffers may say That there is no such castle at all? Or in life or in death they must enter, some day, Its open and opulent hall! And what matters it, pray, that my body must stay Firmly bound by the stern present tense, Since my spirit is free, and has fled far away To the castle of Twenty Years Hence? Oh, the walls of that castle are built of delight, And its floors have a carpet of peace. As I pass the wide portal my sorrows take flight, And all my sad worriments cease. The fumes of to-day, and the frets of to-day, They are nothing, when looked at from thence; Yes, a mount to a molehill may dwindle away When gazed at from Twenty Years Hence. For its windows, my lad, have a marvellous skill, As I view all the path I have trod; They can soften its hardness, and blot out its ill, And show me the goodness of God. When the world is awry, lad, and fortune unkind, And the storm-clouds are angry and dense, Take a leap in your mind and I think you will find Your castle of Twenty Years Hence. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HOPE IS NOT FOR THE WISE by ROBINSON JEFFERS SONNET by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON SPRING FLOODS by MAURICE BARING SONNET: 9. HOPE by WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT by DEREK MAHON A BATTLE SONG (WRITTEN IN THE WORLD WAR) by AMOS RUSSEL WELLS |
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