The complete poetical works of John Hay including many poems now first collected |
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THANATOS ATHANATOS
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 | The complete poetical works of John Hay |  |
237
THANATOS ATHANATOS
(DEATHLESS DEATH)
At eve when the brief wintry day is sped,I muse beside my fire's faint-flickering glare—
Conscious of wrinkling face and whitening hair—
Of those who, dying young, inherited
The immortal youthfulness of the early dead.
I think of Raphael's grand-seigneurial air;
Of Shelley and Keats, with laurels fresh and fair
Shining unwithered on each sacred head;
And soldier boys who snatched death's starry prize,
With sweet life radiant in their fearless eyes,
The dreams of love upon their beardless lips,
Bartering dull age for immortality;
Their memories hold in death's unyielding fee
The youth that thrilled them to the finger-tips.
| The complete poetical works of John Hay | |