Life and Phantasy by William Allingham: With frontispiece by Sir John E. Millais: A design by Arthur H. Hughes and a song for voice and piano forte |
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 | Life and Phantasy |  |
TWELVE SEVENS.
Seven years he lives a merry, careless Child,Seven, Boy, excited, simple, curious, wild;
Seven, Lad, bold, eager, vext with pains of growth;
Seven, Young Man, seeking work and pleasure both;
Seven, Man, with all his active powers in swing;
Seven, Man matured,—if virtuous, then a king;
Seven, Man composed, serene; seven elderly,
Grave, retrospective Senior. Sixty-three
Has brought him to the frontier of Old Age.
At seventy he has reach'd its second stage;
Its third with trembling steps in seven years more.
And if his sevens drag on to eighty-four,
Full welcome be the friendly, shadowy door!
| Life and Phantasy | |