 | Jane and Ann Taylor: Original Poems for Infant Minds |  |
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OLD AQE.
Who is this that comes tottering along,
His footsteps are feeble and slow.
His beard has grown curling and long,
And his hair is turn'd white as the snow.
His footsteps are feeble and slow.
His beard has grown curling and long,
And his hair is turn'd white as the snow.
He is falling quite into decay,
Deep wrinkles have furrow'd his cheek;
He cannot be merry and gay,
He is so exceedingly weak.
Deep wrinkles have furrow'd his cheek;
He cannot be merry and gay,
He is so exceedingly weak.
Little stranger, his name is Old Age,
His journey will shortly be o'er:
He soon will leave life's busy stage,
To sigh and be sorry no more.
His journey will shortly be o'er:
He soon will leave life's busy stage,
To sigh and be sorry no more.
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Little stranger, though healthy and strong,
You now are so merry and brave,
Like him you must totter ere long,
Like him you must sink to the grave.
You now are so merry and brave,
Like him you must totter ere long,
Like him you must sink to the grave.
Those limbs, which so actively play,
That face beaming pleasure and mirth,
Like his must fall into decay,
And moulder away in the earth.
That face beaming pleasure and mirth,
Like his must fall into decay,
And moulder away in the earth.
Then, ere that dark season of night,
When youth and its energies cease,
Oh! follow with zeal and delight
Those paths which are pleasure and peace.
When youth and its energies cease,
Oh! follow with zeal and delight
Those paths which are pleasure and peace.
So triumph and hope shall be nigh,
When failing and fainting your breath;
And a light will enkindle your eye,
Ere it closes for ever in death.
When failing and fainting your breath;
And a light will enkindle your eye,
Ere it closes for ever in death.
| Jane and Ann Taylor: Original Poems for Infant Minds | |