I ALAS, the darkened vault of day! The fading stars that shine no more!— Alas, mine eyes that cloud with grey That beauty lucid as before! Alone on some deserted shore, Forgetting happy hope, I stand, And to my own sad self deplore The stillness of the empty land. II And I am he who long ago,— (How well my heart recalls it yet!)— Beheld an early sun and low In fields I never shall forget; The roses round were bright and wet And all the garden clear with dew, In pleasant paths my steps were set And life was young and love was new. III How changed is this from that estate! How vexed with unfamiliar fears! And from that child more separate Than friend from friend of other years, Who strains quick sight and eager ears Forgiveness from the dead to win, But only sees the dark, and hears A soundless echo of his sin. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FUNERAL HYMN by LOUIS UNTERMEYER THE YARN OF THE 'NANCY BELL' by WILLIAM SCHWENCK GILBERT MODERN LOVE: 47 by GEORGE MEREDITH DARWINISM by AGNES MARY F. ROBINSON INDEPENDENCE by HENRY DAVID THOREAU THE FIRST DANDELION by WALT WHITMAN RECOLLECTIONS OF SOLITUDE; AN ELEGY by ROBERT SEYMOUR BRIDGES |