Durable is flesh when young, Gives the stricken brain no tongue, Hides the thumb-mark on the throat, As a mask, declines to note The weight of trooping nights and days, Converting dust to pride and praise. But as the shape of strength wears thin, The covering cries what lies within; A frown, the posture of the head Reveal the battle and its dead; While what was veiled in ease and grace, Now stares the stranger in the face, Who passing, hears the shrunken shell Discourse on all it would not tell. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LILY, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE THE COW IN APPLE TIME by ROBERT FROST THOUGHTS OF PHENA AT NEWS OF HER DEATH by THOMAS HARDY PROPERZIA ROSSI by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS |