Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems by the late Thomas Haynes Bayly; Edited by his Widow. With A Memoir of the Author. In Two Volumes |
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OF WHAT IS THE OLD MAN THINKING? |
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 | Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems |  |
OF WHAT IS THE OLD MAN THINKING?
I
Of what is the old man thinking,As he leans on his oaken staff?
From the mid-day pastime shrinking,
He shares not the merry laugh.
But the tears of the old man flow,
As he looks on the young and gay:
And his grey head, moving slow,
Keeps time to the air they play:
The elder around are drinking,
But not one cup will he quaff,
Oh! of what is the old man thinking,
As he leans on his oaken staff?
II
'Tis not with a vain repining,That the old man sheds a tear;
'Tis not for his strength declining,
He sighs not to linger here.
There's a spell in the air they play,
And the old man's eyes are dim,
For it calls up a past May-day,
And the dear friends lost to him.
213
From the dance and the merry laugh,
Of their calm repose he is thinking,
As he leans on his oaken staff.
| Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems | |