Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CHANGED, by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY Poet's Biography First Line: I know not why my soul is rack'd Last Line: To bed. Subject(s): Aging | ||||||||
I know not why my soul is rack'd: Why I ne'er smile as was my wont: I only know that, as a fact, I don't. I used to roam o'er glen and glade Buoyant and blithe as other folk: And not unfrequently I made A joke. A minstrel's fire within me burn'd. I'd sing, as one whose heart must break, Lay upon lay: I nearly learn'd To shake. All day I sang; of love, of fame, Of fights our fathers fought of yore, Until the thing almost became A bore. I cannot sing the old songs now! It is not that I deem them low; 'Tis that I can't remember how They go. I could not range the hills till high Above me stood the summer moon: And as to dancing, I could fly As soon. The sports, to which with boyish glee I sprang erewhile, attract no more; Although I am but sixty-three Or four. Nay, worse than that, I've seem'd of late To shrink from happy boyhood -- boys Have grown so noisy, and I hate A noise. They fright me, when the beech is green, By swarming up its stem for eggs: They drive their horrid hoops between My legs -- It's idle to repine, I know; I'll tell you what I'll do instead: I'll drink my arrowroot, and go To bed. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AFTER THE GENTLE POET KOBAYASHI ISSA by ROBERT HASS MEMORY AS A HEARING AID by TONY HOAGLAND AMOROSA AND COMPANY by CONRAD AIKEN GRAY WEATHER by ROBINSON JEFFERS FROM THE SPANISH by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON HIC VIR, HIC EST' by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY |
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