Welcome, old friend! These many years Have we lived door by door: The Fates have laid aside their shears Perhaps for some few more. I was indocil at an age When better boys were taught, But thou at length hast made me sage, If I am sage in aught. Little I know from other men, Too little they from me, But thou hast pointed well the pen That writes these lines to thee. Thanks for expelling Fear and Hope, One vile, the other vain; One's scourge, the other's telescope, I shall not see again: Rather what lies before my feet My notice shall engage . . He who hath braved Youth's dizzy heat Dreads not the frost of Age. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FOUNTAIN (1) by SARA TEASDALE THE WANDERINGS OF OISIN by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS TO GOD AND IRELAND TRUE by ELLEN O'LEARY ON A CURATE'S COMPLAINT OF HARD DUTY by JONATHAN SWIFT THE CANDLE by GHALIB IBN RIBAH AL-HAJJAM THE LITTLE ONES GREATNESS by JOSEPH BEAUMONT SONG BY AN OLD SHEPHERD by WILLIAM BLAKE |