OH who shall say that we are free! Surely life's chains are strong to bind From youth to age, from birth to death, Body and mind. We run the riotous race of youth, Then turn from evil things to good: 'Tis but a slower pulse, a chill Of youth's hot blood. We mount the difficult steeps of thought, Or pace the dusty paths of gain: 'Tis but that sense receding leaves A keener brain. Time takes this too, and then we turn Our dim eyes to the hidden shore; Life palls, and yet we long to live, -- Ay, nothing more. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MARIA CALLAS, THE WOMAN BEHIND THE LEGEND* by MADELINE DEFREES TO THE MARTYRED by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON WHEN I AM DEAD by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO CARMEN SYLVA (QUEEN OF ROUMANIA) by EMMA LAZARUS THE MARRIAGE (1) by TIMOTHY LIU A MENDOCINO MEMORY by EDWIN MARKHAM |