 | Collected poems |  |
602
THREESCORE AND TEN
“Age never droops into decrepitude while
Fancy stands at his side.”
Fancy stands at his side.”
So Landor wrote, and so I quote,
And wonder if he knew;
There is so much to doubt about—
So much but partly true!
And wonder if he knew;
There is so much to doubt about—
So much but partly true!
Can one make points with stiffened joints?
Or songs that breathe and burn?
Will not the jaded Muse refuse
An acrobatic turn?
Or songs that breathe and burn?
Will not the jaded Muse refuse
An acrobatic turn?
There was a time when dancing rhyme
Ran readily to cantos;
But now it seems too late a date
For galliards and corantos.
Ran readily to cantos;
But now it seems too late a date
For galliards and corantos.
One must beware, too, lest one's pace
Disgrace one's Roxalane,
For e'en Decrepitude, my Friend,
Must bend—in a pavane.
Disgrace one's Roxalane,
For e'en Decrepitude, my Friend,
Must bend—in a pavane.
No! on the whole the fittest rôle
For Age is the spectator's,
In roomy stall reclined behind
The “paters” and the “maters,”
For Age is the spectator's,
In roomy stall reclined behind
The “paters” and the “maters,”
603
That fondly watch the pose of those
Whose thought is still creative—
Whose point of view is fresh and new,
Not feebly imitative.
Whose thought is still creative—
Whose point of view is fresh and new,
Not feebly imitative.
Time can no more lost Youth restore
Or rectify defect;
But it can clear a failing sight
With light of retrospect.
Or rectify defect;
But it can clear a failing sight
With light of retrospect.
1911.
| Collected poems | |