I stood in childhood's narrow vale And viewed the steep and sinuous trail That like a serpent seemed to climb O'er hazy heights and peaks sublime Until the pinnacle it passed— The Mount of Middle Life at last— The age of forty. And with a halo o'er his head, A victor o'er the summit sped All glorious in life's noonday sun, Adorned with stars and medals won, While rainbow-tinted on a cloud This legend seemed to shout aloud: "A man of forty!" So far it seemed to boyhood's eye, That gilded summit in the sky! Could I e'er live so long, and wait That outpost of the Golden Gate? I sighed and ran and longed to be As grand as father seemed to me— A man of forty. But I awake this morn to find I've passed that milepost of the mind, And stand amazed that I am still Much as I was below the hill— The long-tailed coat and bearded chin Do only hide the boy within The man of forty. Some childish things we put away, But more cling to us when we're gray. How much of wisdom yet ungained! Like ant-hills are the heights attained! Life's mountain peaks are still uncrowned— The rainbow tints are still beyond This man of forty. Though owlish Oslers view their slain, Ambition lives and tugs his chain; Hope gathers up the broken stran' To weave the fabric of a man— Though seamed and soiled the garment be, God yet can work a mystery On one of forty. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SEVEN TIMES SIX [ - GIVING IN MARRIAGE] by JEAN INGELOW THE SIGN OF THE CROSS by JOHN HENRY NEWMAN ANOTHER SPRING by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI ANDROMEDA by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH PSALM 1; DONE INTO VERSE 1653 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE GREAT DAYS by CHARLES WILLIAM BRODRIBB EPITAPH ON THE RIGHT HONOURABLE SUSAN, COUNTESS OF MONTGOMERY by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |