Some men in age can well contrive A hearty youth and true; May I, when I am seventy-five, Be half as young as you! To other men the decades bring Sad wrinkles of the mind, Dead branches where dead clusters cling, And frosty ways unkind. For you, with every added year, The tree of merry life Bourgeons with blessedness and cheer, With happy fruitage rife. Pray tell the other forest folk How, out of years and rain, You fashion such a sturdy oak, Leafage of heart and brain! And long may we whom God allows Around you, sapling-wise, Look through your green and sunny boughs Up to the sunny skies! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE by JAMES GALVIN SONGS OF EXPERIENCE: INTRODUCTION by WILLIAM BLAKE MORAL ESSAYS: EPISTLE 4. TO RICHARD BOYLE, EARL BURLINGTON by ALEXANDER POPE TO LADY ANNE HAMILTON by WILLIAM ROBERT SPENCER AT THE FUNERAL OF A MINOR POET by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE SHEPHERD O' THE FARM by WILLIAM BARNES WHO KNOWS WHERE BEAUTY LIES? by AGNES STEWART BECK |