Half of my life is gone, and I have let The years slip from me and have not fulfilled The aspiration of my youth, to build Some tower of song with lofty parapet. Not indolence, nor pleasure, nor the fret Of restless passions that would not be stilled, But sorrow, and a care that almost killed, Kept me from what I may accomplish yet; Though, half-way up the hill, I see the Past Lying beneath me with its sounds and sights, -- A city in the twilight dim and vast, With smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights, -- And hear above me on the autumnal blast The cataract of Death far thundering from the heights. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONGS FOR THE PEOPLE by FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS HARPER IN EARLIEST SPRING by WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS SONNET: 107 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE FOR THE INAUGURATION OF A PUBLIC SCHOOL, CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY by WALT WHITMAN CHANNING by AMOS BRONSON ALCOTT TO ANACREON by ANTIPATER OF SIDON PSALM 88 by OLD TESTAMENT BIBLE |