FOR your sake who have left me grieving I love the old who are tired of living, Tired of travelling a road grown weary, More than the young, more than the merry. The old, patient and rosy faces Stir my heart in its secret places. The old eyes that ache for rest Set my heart to bleed in my breast. More than the children, golden and ruddy, The bent knees and the feeble body Stab my heart with the mother-pain, For your sake in the night and rain. For your sake I would fain enfold them, The old heads to my breast and hold them, Keep them safe from the lonely fear, My kind love of many a year. The old hands, I could kneel and kiss them, Knotted and purple, could love them, caress them. Ah, my dear, when the house is asleep, I see your hands and I wake and weep. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE BATTLE OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN [NOVEMBER 24, 1863] by GEORGE HENRY BOKER THE DEPARTURE OF THE SWALLOW by WILLIAM HOWITT SUMMER MATURES by HELENE JOHNSON THE HOUSE WITH NOBODY IN IT by ALFRED JOYCE KILMER AD PATRIAM by CLINTON SCOLLARD LOUIS XV by JOHN STERLING (1806-1844) |