You, who through every change remain Lucid, an analyst, and sane, Accept my thanks for this short pause Among the wrecks of schools and laws,— This pause of honest talk, that brings Memories back of many things, When Lionel—he was not married— Home in his coat tail whiskey carried, And Ernest Dowson made a sonnet To a preposterous Polish bonnet, And Arthur Symons penned great folly Before he fell on melancholy, And all of us had seen Rossetti Still looming upon Charon's jetty, And everyone was still possessed By dreams of writing better than the rest! Wilde we knew well. We Beardsley saw, And duly damned the early Shaw. But now as wraiths and conquered souls These vanish. Their forgotten roles Are grown pathetic. We survive As fathers, very much alive, But oft inclined to drop a tear On Fancy's old romantic bier. You, friend, are much in love, I know, With what the Present Time can show, And, I, too old-world, can't agree With Change—but unto you and me, At meetings such as this, must still Come gleams from old Olympus' hill. Both you and I—tho' you're so new— Regret that Past, now out of view, And sometimes wish we could revive The days of Eighteen-Ninety-Five! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...LILIES: 14. THE AWAKING by GEORGE BARLOW (1847-1913) THE WEDDING FEAST: 4 by ANNA HEMPSTEAD BRANCH BLOWING BUBBLES by BEATRICE PAULA BYRNES THE MIDDLEBURY, VERMOUNT, FAIR by DANIEL LEAVENS CADY IN THE SHADOWS: 2 by DAVID GRAY (1838-1861) |