When Age Comes On
James Whitcomb Riley 1849 (Greenfield) – 1916 (Indianapolis)
When Age comes on!--
'The deepening dusk is where the dawn
Once glittered splendid, and the dew
In honey-drips, from red rose-lips
Was kissed away by me and you.--
And now across the frosty lawn
Black foot-prints trail, and Age comes on--
And Age comes on!
And biting wild-winds whistle through
Our tattered hopes--and Age comes on!
When Age comes on!--
O tide of raptures, long withdrawn,
Flow back in summer-floods, and fling
Here at our feet our childhood sweet,
And all the songs we used to sing! . . .
Old loves, old friends--all dead and gone--
Our old faith lost--and Age comes on--
And Age comes on!
Poor hearts! have we not anything
But longings left when Age comes on?
ENVOY.
Just as of old! The world rolls on and on;
The day dies into night--night into dawn--
Dawn into dusk--through centuries untold.--
Just as of old.
Time loiters not. The river ever flows,
Its brink or white with blossoms or with snows;
Its tide or warm with Spring or Winter cold:
Just as of old.
Lo! where is the beginning, where the end
Of living, loving, longing? Listen, friend!--
God answers with a silence of pure gold--
Just as of old.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 26, 2023
- 1:02 min read
- 126 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | AbcxcbaAca AbdxdbaAda abeE ffeE ggeE |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,102 |
Words | 208 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 4, 4, 4 |
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"When Age Comes On" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 12 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/21176/when-age-comes-on>.
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