Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE ANCIENT THREE, by HARRY RANDOLPH BLYTHE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ANCIENT THREE, by                    
First Line: They are old and worn and dreary
Last Line: Classic links with long ago.
Subject(s): Dartmouth College


THEY are old and worn and dreary,
Wentworth, Reed, and Thornton Halls,
Not by half so bright and cheery
As our later, modern walls;
They don't "stack up" with New Hampshire
Or with Massachusetts Row,
And they're dark, a trifle damp, sir,
These old "dorms" of long ago.

Yet I swear dreams cling about them
Of the ancient Indian days,
No smart sophomore may flout them
When he speaks a building's praise;
They have faced more wintry weather
Housed more lads, these pioneers,
Than all new ones put together,
Reared in late, affluent years.

Sons of Wheelock without number,
Good sons, great sons, stanch and true,
Sons who now have gone to slumber,
Sons who never saw the new,
Toiled in these old halls of knowledge
Dream-lit by their young desires,
And they made up Dartmouth College, —
For these same sons were our sires.

Thornton may look rough and musty,
Reed may lack luxurious style,
Wentworth's bedrooms may be dusty,
Bathrooms, too, seem short of tile;
They don't "class" with Dartmouth's latest,
Those on Massachusetts Row,
But these "dorms" are still our greatest, —
Classic links with long ago.





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