'Age never droops into decrepitude while Fancy stands at his side.' SO LANDOR wrote, and so I quote, And wonder if he knew; There is so much to doubt about -- So much but partly true! Can one make points with stiffened joints? Or songs that breathe and burn? Will not the jaded Muse refuse An acrobatic turn? There was a time when dancing rhyme Ran readily to cantos; But now it seems too late a date For galliards and corantos. One must beware, too, lest one's pace Disgrace one's ROXALANE, For e'en Decrepitude, my Friend, Must bend -- in a pavane. No! on the whole the fittest role For Age is the spectator's, In roomy stall reclined behind The 'paters' and the 'maters,' That fondly watch the pose of those Whose thought is still creative -- Whose point of view is fresh and new, Not feebly imitative. Time can no more lost Youth restore Or rectify defect; But it can clear a failing sight With light of retrospect. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CRITIC AND POET by EMMA LAZARUS 1914: 2. SAFETY by RUPERT BROOKE THE LOST MISTRESS by ROBERT BROWNING THE DEBT by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR TO A DISTANT FRIEND by WILLIAM WORDSWORTH POEM, READ THE SOLDIERS' WELCOME, FRANKLIN, NEW YORK, AUG. 5, 1865 by B. H. BARNES TAKE YOUR CHOICE: AS LONGFELLOW WROTE IT by BERTON BRALEY THE WANDERER: PROLOGUE. PART 2 by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |