When youth is passing from my hoary head, And life's decline steals brightness from thine eye - But that it cannot soon, nor quench the red Upon thy cheek that hath so rich a dye - Then of what crowns of fame may thou and I Avow ourselves the gainers? with what balm Of Christian hope, devotionally calm, Shall I be then anointed? Will this sigh, Born of distempered feeling, still come forth As thus, unjoyous? or be left to die Before the rapid and unpausing birth Of joyous thoughts succeeding momently? What would not such recoil of bliss be worth, Replacing in our age this early loss of joy? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DISAPPOINTED by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR A SNOW-STORM; SCENE IN A VERMONT WINTER by CHARLES GAMAGE EASTMAN BACCHUS AND THE FROGS by ARISTOPHANES NIGHT WATCHERS by WILLIAM ROSE BENET VOICE OF THE SEA by WILLIAM STANLEY BRAITHWAITE CITIES OF ELD by RICHARD EUGENE BURTON |