I think that in his youth he must have known The disappointment of a thwarted plan; And now that he has all but passed life's span, The dream returns -- perhaps had never flown. For after years of toiling he has grown Too frail to tend the farm; a hired man Works in his stead; he muses, seems to scan A distant sphere like one who walks alone. And so he takes to mending broken clocks, Both large and small. Not any, it would seem Is too far gone; even those that knew hard knocks Grow strong and rhythmic as a living theme, And as he listens to their buoyant chime, Age vanishes -- his spirit soars with time. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...ALICE IN WONDERLAND: THE WALRUS AND THE CARPENTER by CHARLES LUTWIDGE DODGSON HOMAGE TO THE BRITISH MUSEUM by WILLIAM EMPSON A DIALOGUE BETWEEN TWO SHEPHERDS IN PRAISE OF ASTRAEA by MARY SIDNEY HERBERT THE CHURCH OF A DREAM; TO BERNHARD BERENSON by LIONEL PIGOT JOHNSON TO MY FRIENDS, WHO RIDICULED A TENDER LEAVE-TAKING by MATTHEW ARNOLD |