 | Poems Chiefly Lyric and Elegiac |  |
24
IN RETIREMENT.
And so you are settled for ever?
And so you are happy at home?
You will never abandon us—never—
Nor leave us, to ramble and roam?
And so you are happy at home?
You will never abandon us—never—
Nor leave us, to ramble and roam?
That is well; for we wish to be quiet,
We want to be sober and still;
We have done with our racket and riot,
We have wrought long enough at the mill:
We want to be sober and still;
We have done with our racket and riot,
We have wrought long enough at the mill:
The treadmill of profit and pleasure,
The merry-go-round of applause,
That leaves you no heart and no leisure
For anything better than straws:
The merry-go-round of applause,
That leaves you no heart and no leisure
For anything better than straws:
25
Straws, that dazzle our eyes as we watch them,
So brisk and so bright is their play;
But ere we have managed to catch them,
A wind comes and whisks them away.
So brisk and so bright is their play;
But ere we have managed to catch them,
A wind comes and whisks them away.
There's the straw of a keen politician,
Still tickling the popular ear;
There's the straw of a soldier's ambition—
A good one, but often too dear;
Still tickling the popular ear;
There's the straw of a soldier's ambition—
A good one, but often too dear;
There's the straw of the popular poet,
The popular teller of tales;
The popular cheat, who can go it
In England, and also in Wales;
The popular teller of tales;
The popular cheat, who can go it
In England, and also in Wales;
There's the straw of the saint or the sinner;
It matters not which—not a straw!
For we only ask who is the winner,
And what is the thing that will draw?
It matters not which—not a straw!
For we only ask who is the winner,
And what is the thing that will draw?
Ah, and we had our part in the struggle;
We know all about it, my dear!
We too have been tempted to juggle,
And barter our souls for a cheer;
We know all about it, my dear!
We too have been tempted to juggle,
And barter our souls for a cheer;
26
But we won't; we resist the temptation;
We only ask leisure to live:
We know of a better salvation
Than popular methods can give;
We only ask leisure to live:
We know of a better salvation
Than popular methods can give;
We know that the homeliest duty,
The simplest and lowliest peace,
Can be touch'd with a grace and a beauty
Which nothing on earth could increase;
The simplest and lowliest peace,
Can be touch'd with a grace and a beauty
Which nothing on earth could increase;
We know that the life we are seeking
Is nourish'd and fed from above,
And not from the ground that is reeking
And red with the heart's blood of Love.
Is nourish'd and fed from above,
And not from the ground that is reeking
And red with the heart's blood of Love.
| Poems Chiefly Lyric and Elegiac | |