Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


REVERSES by JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN MIRTH IS FULL AND FREE
Last Line: TOWARDS AN END.

WHEN mirth is full and free,
Some sudden gloom shall be;
When haughty power mounts high,
The Watcher's axe is nigh.
All growth has bound; when greatest found,
It hastes to die.

When the rich town, that long
Has lain its huts among,
Uprears its pageants vast,
And vaunts -- it shall not last!
Bright tints that shine, are but a sign
Of summer past.

And when thine eye surveys,
With fond adoring gaze,
And yearning heart thy friend --
Love to its grave doth tend.
All gifts below, save Truth, but grow
Towards an end.



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