(Born at Portland, Maine, U.S.A., February 27th, 1807.) 'AND his old age made beautiful with song.' These were thy words of Chaucer who, grown old, Like thee, those wand'ring 'Wayside' tales retold, Which all men hearken to, when hours are long. But thou hadst added to the rest a throng From Western Worlds; and Northern Runes unroll'd; And sought in Gestes and Fables manifold Thy 'Birds of Passage,' fleet of wing and strong. Bard of the bygone days when we were young! Be this thy praise, that never flower'd among Thy 'Garden of Romance' aught base or mean; And still, through all the changes of the year, Thy stream of verse came welling pure and clear, A stainless fount, -- the truest Hippocrene. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE MAIDEN QUEEN: SONG by JOHN DRYDEN CRYING, 'THALASSUS!' by JOSEPH AUSLANDER CLIO, NINE ECLOGUES IN HONOUR OF NINE VIRTUES: 2. OF GRATITUDE by WILLIAM BASSE PARADOX by MAGDELEN EDEN BOYLE IN MEMORIAM: PAUL BRIDSON by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN ON HIS MAJESTY'S RECOVERY FROM THE SMALL-POX, 1633 by WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT |