Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


YESTERDAY by FRANK CRANE

First Line: I AM YESTERDAY
Last Line: CANNOT ESCAPE FROM YOURSELF.

I am yesterday.
I am gone from you for ever.
I am the last of a long procession of days, streaming behind you, away from you,

pouring into mist and obscurity, and at last into the ocean of oblivion.
I depart from you, yet I am ever with you.
Once I was called Tomorrow, and was virgin pure; then I became your bride and
was named Today; now I am Yesterday, and carry upon me the eternal stain of your

embrace.
I am one of the leaves of a growing book. There are many pages before me.
Some day you will turn us all over, and read us, and know what you are.
I am rich, for I have wisdom.
I bore you a child, and left him with you. His name is Experience.
I am Yesterday; yet I am the same as Today and Forever; for I am you; and you
cannot escape from yourself.



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