Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, GROWING OLD, by ROLLIN J. WELLS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GROWING OLD, by                    
First Line: A little more tired at the close of day
Last Line: "I live because of their help on the way."
Alternate Author Name(s): Wells, R. G.
Variant Title(s): As We Grow Older;growing Older
Subject(s): Aging


A LITTLE MORE TIRED at the close of day,
A little more anxious to have our way,
A little less ready to scold and blame,
A little more care for a brother's name;
And so we are nearing the journey's end,
Where time and eternity meet and blend.

A little less care for bonds or gold,
A little more zeal for the days of old;
A broader view and a saner mind,
And a little more love for all mankind;
And so we are faring down the way
That leads to the gates of a better day.

A little more love for the friends of youth,
A little more zeal for established truth,
A little more charity in our views,
A little less thirst for the daily news;
And so we are folding our tents away
And passing in silence at close of day.

A little more leisure to sit and dream,
A little more real the things unseen,
A little nearer to those ahead,
With visions of those long loved and dead;
And so we are going where all must go --
To the place the living may never know.

A little more laughter, a few more tears,
And we shall have told our increasing years.
The book is closed and the prayers are said,
And we are part of the countless dead;
Thrice happy, then, if some soul can say,
"I live because of their help on the way."





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