NOT to thee, Bedford! mournful is the tale Of days departed. Time in his career Arraigns not thee that the neglected year Hath past unheeded onward. To the vale Of years thou journeyest; may the future road Be pleasant as the past! and on my friend Friendship and love, best blessings! still attend, Till full of days he reach the calm abode Where nature slumbers. Lovely is the age Of virtue: with such reverence we behold The silver hairs, as some gray oak grown old That whilom mocked the rushing tempest's rage, Now like the monument of strength decayed, With rarely-sprinkled leaves, casting a trembling shade. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...KEARNY AT SEVEN PINES [MAY 31, 1862] by EDMUND CLARENCE STEDMAN TO THE FOUR COURTS, PLEASE by JAMES STEPHENS GARDEN DAYS: 7. THE GARDENER by ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON IN MEMORIAM A.H.H.: 27 by ALFRED TENNYSON TO A LOCOMOTIVE IN WINTER by WALT WHITMAN MYRTILLA by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH |