Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, EIGHTY YEARS OLD, by KATHARINE TYNAN



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

EIGHTY YEARS OLD, by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: The world is left behind him quite
Last Line: Else we had lost him utterly.
Alternate Author Name(s): Hinkson, Katharine Tynan
Subject(s): Death; Innocence; Old Age; Spiritual Life; Dead, The


THE world is left behind him quite,
His soul hath journeyed many a mile
Already on her heavenly flight;
Though here he tarries yet awhile.

The tired old body's with us yet:
The spirit has gone free and pressed
Beyond life's long fatigue and fret
To where is quietness and rest.

He looks at us and sees us not,
Or sees us dimly: his tired eyes,
Innocent, without fleck or spot,
Wear the child's colour and the sky's.

He has regained his innocence,
Is newly-washed and white and sweet,
Clean from the stains of sin and sense,
Like a dear child from head to feet.

Only his heart's love answers ours.
The old heart tarries with us still,
Puts out green shoots of love, fresh flowers,
That age nor Death himself can kill.

A child, a child in the dark awhile
Whom the dark frightens till he turns
Glad to his mother-daughter's smile
And her kind heart for which he yearns.

Across what infinite distances
He looks at us? across what sea?
Only our hearts have touch with his,
Else we had lost him utterly.





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