When I was far too young to comprehend, My great-grandfather one day talked to me As if I were his wise and aged friend And did not hold a new doll on my knee. I can remember how his voice was kind, But what he said I could not understand; Only these words clung oddly in my mind: "To burn out like a candle in God's hand" . . . What other words he uttered I forget. These are like rubies from a ring unrolled That in my fingers wait to be reset When I learn better how to work with gold. Yet when he spoke them, all I did was stare And wonder at the whiteness of his hair. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONNET: 20. A FAREWELL by PHILIP SIDNEY THE WANDERER: 1. IN ITALY: WARNINGS by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON HOME, SWEET HOME WITH VARIATIONS: 1. ORIGINAL THEME AS PAYNE WROTE IT by HENRY CUYLER BUNNER THE REDEMPTION OF MANKIND by JOHN BYROM SWEEP by PATRICK REGINALD CHALMERS |