SHALL I complain because the feast is o'er, And all the banquet lights have ceased to shine? For joy that was, and is no longer mine; For love that came and went, and comes no more; For hopes and dreams that left my open door; Shall I, who hold the past in fee, repine?. . . Nay! there are those who never quaffed life's wine -- That were the unblest fate one might deplore. To sit alone and dream, at set of sun, When all the world is vague with coming night -- To hear old voices whisper, sweet and low, And see dear faces steal back, one by one, And thrill anew to each long-past delight -- Shall I complain, who still this bliss may know? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE LATTER DAY by THOMAS HASTINGS MARGARET'S SONG by LASCELLES ABERCROMBIE LAST AND WORST by FRANCES EKIN ALLISON TO NIMUE by WILFRID SCAWEN BLUNT SUBSTITUTION by ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING FAMILIAR EPISTLES ON A SERMON, 'OFFICE & OPERATIONS OF HOLY SPIRIT': 4 by JOHN BYROM ON LEAVING NEWSTEAD ABBEY by GEORGE GORDON BYRON PERSIAN [ORIENTAL] ECLOGUES: 2. HASSAN; OR, THE CAMEL-DRIVER by WILLIAM COLLINS (1721-1759) |