Odes of Anacreon translated from the Greek, into English verse |
 |
| XV. |
| XVI. |
| XX. |
| XXXVI. |
| XXXVII. |
| XLVIII. |
| L. |
| LI. |
| LII. |
| LIII. |
| LIV. | LIV.—OLD AGE. |
| LXII. |
| LXVI. |
 | Odes of Anacreon |  |
113
LIV.—OLD AGE.
(By Dr Broome.)
Alas! the powers of life decay!
My hairs are fall'n, or turn'd to gray;
The smiling bloom, and youthful grace,
Is banish'd from my faded face:
Thus man beholds, with weeping eyes,
Himself half dead before he dies.
For this and for the grave I fear,
And pour the never-ceasing tear:
A dreadful prospect strikes my eye,
I soon must sicken, soon must die.
For this the mournful groan I shed,
I dread—alas! the hour I dread!
What eye can stedfastly survey
Death, and its dark tremendous way?
For soon as fate has clos'd our eyes,
Man dies—for ever, ever dies!
All pale, all senseless in the urn!
Never, ah! never to return.
My hairs are fall'n, or turn'd to gray;
The smiling bloom, and youthful grace,
Is banish'd from my faded face:
Thus man beholds, with weeping eyes,
Himself half dead before he dies.
For this and for the grave I fear,
And pour the never-ceasing tear:
A dreadful prospect strikes my eye,
I soon must sicken, soon must die.
For this the mournful groan I shed,
I dread—alas! the hour I dread!
What eye can stedfastly survey
Death, and its dark tremendous way?
For soon as fate has clos'd our eyes,
Man dies—for ever, ever dies!
All pale, all senseless in the urn!
Never, ah! never to return.
| Odes of Anacreon | |