Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SHERBORNE; AN ODE, SUNG ON ITS 350TH ANNIVERSARY, APRIL 20, 1900, by LEWIS MORRIS (1833-1907)


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SHERBORNE; AN ODE, SUNG ON ITS 350TH ANNIVERSARY, APRIL 20, 1900, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Tis fifty years since last we met to keep our festal day
Last Line: And all the world seemed at our feet, and hopeful hearts beat high!
Subject(s): Schools; Students


I.

'TIS fifty years since last we met to keep our festal day,
And many are gone, and some are here, tho' wrinkled now and grey;
The long dim past grows clearer as we meet, and not in vain
Recall the fleeting days of youth and turn to boys again!
Our years increase, our blood runs slow, we hasten to grow old,
But never shall our souls forget, till heart and hand are cold;

The old school, the dear school, where we were boys together;
The old days, the dear days of life's young April weather;
When the future filled with gleams of gold the musing boyish eye,
And all the world seemed at our feet, and hopeful hearts beat high!

II.

Many have since by East and West found glory or a tomb,
Some toiled for God and country 'mid the city's stifling gloom,
Some midst wrangling of the Forum, or dull chaffering of the Mart,
Have slaved for children and for home, contented with their part;
Their years increased, their limbs moved slow, they hastened to grow old,
But never did their souls forget, till heart and hand were cold;

The old school, the dear school, where we were boys together;
The old days, the dear days of life's young April weather;
When the future filled with gleams of gold the musing boyish eye,
And all the world seemed at our feet, and hopeful hearts beat high!

III.

Grey are our heads, but still there come bright lads with sunny hair,
The gay throngs wake the cloistered courts where once their grandsires were,
Youth, like a red rose, lights the shade with gleams of rising day;
Dear Lord! guide Thou their footsteps while they tread life's perilous way;
Increase their years, make strong their limbs, prepare them to grow old,
But never let their souls forget, till heart and hand are cold;

The old school, the dear school, where we were boys together;
The old days, the dear days of life's young April weather;
When the future filled with gleams of gold the musing boyish eye,
And all the world seemed at our feet, and hopeful hearts beat high!

IV.

We are strangers when we visit now the scenes we loved before,
The playfields and the river where we raced and plunged of yore;
Youth blossoms, and shall blossom still when centuries have gone,
And young lives, to-day undreamt of, shall press tireless, fearless, on;
Their years shall grow, their limbs move slow, and they in turn grow old,
But never may their souls forget, till heart and hand are cold;

The old school, the dear school, where they were boys together;
The old days, the dear days of life's young April weather;
When the future filled with gleams of gold the musing boyish eye,
And all the world seemed at their feet, and hopeful hearts beat high!

V.

Let us band ourselves together, sons of Sherborne, young and old,
Let us swear it by the Minster, while the curfew bell is tolled;
Come good or evil fortune, bright successes, dreary days,
For the old school which nourished us we thrill with love and praise.
Our years increase, our blood runs slow, we hasten to grow old,
But never shall our souls forget, till heart and hand are cold;

The old school, the dear school, where we were boys together;
The old days, the dear days of life's young April weather;
When the future filled with gleams of gold the musing boyish eye,
And all the world seemed at our feet, and hopeful hearts beat high!





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