Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, TO MY HUSBAND'S FIRST GRAY HAIR, by ANNA PEYRE DINNIES



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO MY HUSBAND'S FIRST GRAY HAIR, by                    
First Line: Thou strange, unbidden guest! From whence
Last Line: Such is thine errand, first gray hair.
Alternate Author Name(s): Shackleford, Anna Peyre
Subject(s): Aging; Marriage; Weddings; Husbands; Wives


THOU strange, unbidden guest! from whence
Thus early hast thou come?
And wherefore? Rude intruder, hence.
And seek some fitter home!
These rich young locks are all too dear --
Indeed thou must not linger here!

Go! take thy sober aspect where
The youthful cheek is fading,
Or find some furrow'd brow, which Care
And Passion have been shading;
And add thy sad malignant trace,
To mar the aged or anguish'd face!

Thou wilt not go? Then answer me,
And tell what brought thee here?
Not one of all thy tribe I see
Beside thyself appear,
And, through these bright and clustering curls
Thou shinest, a tiny thread of pearls.

Thou art a moralist? ah, well!
And comest from Wisdom's land,
A few sage axioms just to tell?
Well! well! I understand --
Old Truth hath sent thee here to bear
The maxims which we fain must hear.

And now, as I observe thee nearer,
Thou'rt pretty -- very pretty -- quite
As glossy and as fair -- nay fairer
Than these, but not so bright;
And since thou came Truth's messenger,
Thou shalt remain and speak of her.

She says thou art a herald sent
In kind and friendly warning,
To mix with locks by beauty blent,
(The fair young brow adorning,)
And 'midst their wild luxuriance taught
To show thyself, and waken thought.

That thought, which to the dreamer preaches
A lesson stern as true,
That all things pass away, and teaches
How youth must vanish too!
And thou wert sent to rouse anew
This thought, whene'er thou meet'st the view.

And comes there not a whispering sound,
A low, faint, murmuring breath,
Which, as thou movest, floats around
Like echoes in their death?
"Time onward sweeps, youth flies, prepare" --
Such is thine errand, First Gray Hair.





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