IN the marvelous House of Life Each year is a closed room; It is filled with peace and strife; It is packed with glow and gloom. There are hopes in the hues of dream; There are cares in their grim array; There are pleasures that glint and gleam; And sorrows in drugget gray. For some, with his infinite grace, Love waits when the portal jars; For some, with his sphinx-like face, Death stands when the door unbars. Some back from the threshold shrink, As loath from the past to part; But the most plunge over the brink With never a fear at heart. Then silent closes the door At the sound of the last old chime, And the key -- Forevermore -- Is turned by the keeper -- Time! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...YOUTH PENETRANT by CONRAD AIKEN WINTER NIGHT SONG by SARA TEASDALE THE DEATH OF GRANT by AMBROSE BIERCE L'ENVOI: THE RETURN OF THE SIRE DE NESLE, A.D. 16 - by HERMAN MELVILLE TWICE by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI A PEASANT WOMAN'S SONG by DION BOUCICAULT THE WANDERER: 1. IN ITALY: VENICE by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |