Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

I SHALL LIVE TO BE OLD by SARA TEASDALE

Poet Analysis

First Line: I SHALL LIVE TO BE OLD, WHO FEARED I SHOULD DIE YOUNG
Last Line: AND TO ENVY SOMETIMES THE WAY OF THE EARLY DEAD.
Subject(s): OLD AGE;
I shall live to be old, who feared I should die young,
I shall live to be old.
I shall cling to life as the leaves to the creaking oak
In the rustle of falling snow and the cold.

The other trees let loose their leaves on the air
In their russet and red,
I have lived long enough to wonder which is the best,
And to envy sometimes the way of the early dead.



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