 | Sacra Poesis |  |
31
DESOLATE OLD AGE.
An explanation of Eccles. xii. 1-8, wherein the
circulation of the blood is alluded to.
Remember thy Creator in thy youth,
Now, while the days of evil come not nigh,
Now, while the years of sorrow draw not near,
When thou shalt say, “I find no joy in them.”
While yet the early dayspring cheers thine eye,
The silver moon and bright stars gladden thee,
Nor woe treads ever on the steps of woe
As clouds that canopy a stormy scene.
Before thy well knit arms have lost their strength,
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Before the failing step,—the trembling knee,
The toothless gums, the darken'd eyeball's glare,
Before the pucker'd mouth, or the dull ear
Echoing deceitful to the seabird's shriek,
Untaught to love sweet music's melody.
When fears and dark anxieties prevail,
And e'en the cricket's chirp shakes the tent nerves,
And appetite, and all desire shall die.
When the scant hoary locks whiten the head,
As almond blossom flowering on the tree,
And man is near the grave, his last long home,
And in his dwelling sounds the voice of woe.
Or e'er the silver spinal chord be loos'd,
Or e'er the golden scalp be broke, or e'er
The burden'd arteries stagnate at the heart,
And the clogg'd veins cannot send up again
The languid lifeblood from the dying frame.
For then the dust to dust it must return,
Then to its God the glad soul flee away.
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