Be damned, you cheeks, be damned and sink; Body, bend double, sag and shrink; Go dry, poor Skin, go thin and dry; Sweet Light, collect in neither eye; Body, be damned — shall I not find Your faults redeemed by my unfailing Mind? A Mind that's strong enough to bear A Dream-child every day of the year; A Spirit full of young desire, With growing pains, to reach up higher — Is there no joy for men that think? Body, be damned, bend double, sag and shrink! Fools have their second childhood, but the Great Still keep their first, and have no second state. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...UPON A DYING LADY by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS CANZONET: TO HIS COY LOVE by MICHAEL DRAYTON AURENG-ZEBE, OR THE GREAT MOGUL: PROLOGUE by JOHN DRYDEN HALSTED STREET CAR by CARL SANDBURG ON LOOKING INTO GOLDING'S OVID by STEVE SCAFIDI JR. LILIES: 28. NOW by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) ISLE OF BEAUTY by THOMAS HAYNES BAYLY |