|
|
|
Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE DEFEATED YEARS, by MARJORIE MEEKER
First Line: The old men will crowd
Last Line: "alack, is bent and gray. . . ."")"
Subject(s): Aging
First Line: The old men will crowd
Last Line: "alack, is bent and gray. . . ."")"
Subject(s): Aging
The old men will crowd
Fireward, and sigh, "Alack,
She who was proud
With hair more sleek and black
"Than a crow's wing on snow
Is now burnt to gray --
That proud things pass so,
Alack," they will say.
The old men will nod
Each one a palsied head:
"Straight as a rod
She was, with lips more red
"And curled than any
Poppy after rain --
That she, loved by many,
Should live alone with pain!"
The old men will chatter,
For they will never guess
That years cannot matter
Or spent loveliness. . . .
A heart that is given
Once to the urgent flame,
Lips that are shriven
With a beloved name,
Bear love's extreme
Honor; and breast and brow
Are set with a dream --
No years can mock her now
Who gravely meets
Time with a sharper truth
Than beauty earth defeats
Or the light lance of youth. . . .
(But the old men will crowd
Fireward, and sigh and say,
"She who was proud,
Alack, is bent and gray. . . .")
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
AIRS FOR A FLUTE by MARJORIE MEEKER