DEAR, near and true, -- no truer Time himself Can prove you, tho' he make you evermore Dearer and nearer, as the rapid of life Shoots to the fall, -- take this and pray that he Who wrote it, honoring your sweet faith in him, May trust himself; and after praise and scorn, As one who feels the immeasurable world, Attain the wise indifference of the wise; And after autumn past -- if left to pass His autumn into seeming-leafless days -- Draw toward the long frost and longest night, Wearing his wisdom lightly, like the fruit Which in our winter woodland looks a flower. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO BAYARD TAYLOR by SIDNEY LANIER THE PINES AND THE SEA by CHRISTOPHER PEARSE CRANCH THE DEATH OF ADONIS by THEOCRITUS FANCY AND IMAGINATION by BERNARD BARTON THE SURRENDER by JOSEPH BEAUMONT THE RED SUNSETS, 1883 (1) by MATHILDE BLIND AN ANGRY WORD by MARGARET E. BRUNER |