AGE shall never come near my soul, With his bent form and his dim eye And his beard of yellow flowing; Young as the ancient seas that roll I shall go to my valiant goal, Whether a blue or a grim sky Waits for my hour of going. Sandalled with loam And helmed with sun I'll turn home When my day is done: The last hill won shall hear me sing A song as bold as an eagle's wing -- A song that dares A world of cares And the tempests 'round me blowing. The youngest thing in a youthful world Is a young soul in an old heart; Full statured at the ending. Through the flaming years is my spirit hurled -- A homing stone in an alien world, That leaps to God like a flung dart Back from His love's own sending. To-night the veins Of the world are white, For her blood now drains At the door of night: I warm my sight at the painted cloud, My heart beats strong and the wind beats loud -- And here outrolled Are caldrons of gold, And all for my pleasant spending. As the stars go out so let me go With a quick leap and a clear light And a joyous understanding -- My form erect in the driving snow And the winds that over the borders blow, Whether by day or by drear night I make my lonely landing. You shall not know That I am old By word of woe Or hands grown cold; But swift and bold, as when a boy, I'll make the Last Portage with joy -- And I'll find there White-robed and fair The Lord of Life commanding. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COSMOPOLITE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON EVENTIDE by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON OFFERING by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE GARDEN OF ADONIS by EMMA LAZARUS SURFACES AND MASKS; 7 by CLARENCE MAJOR |