The Poetry of Real Life A New Edition, Much Enlarged and Improved. By Henry Ellison |
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ON SEEING A FRIEND AFTER FIVE YEARS' ABSENCE. |
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 | The Poetry of Real Life |  |
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ON SEEING A FRIEND AFTER FIVE YEARS' ABSENCE.
Dear Friend! a wonder palpable as aught
On record, hast thou wrought unconsciously;
Thou hast mixed up no draught, like that whereby
Medea gave back youth: yet, at the thought
And sight of thee, like miracle is wrought!
From the long score, which, so insensibly,
We run up in Time's debt, five years by thy
Mere presence are struck off, as they were naught
But fleeting figures summed up on a slate!
'Tis well worth while to lose a few years, so
To be repaid! I little heed the state
Of time, what year the almanack may show;
For I feel five years younger: and, you know,
Youth at the heart is youth without a date!
On record, hast thou wrought unconsciously;
Thou hast mixed up no draught, like that whereby
Medea gave back youth: yet, at the thought
And sight of thee, like miracle is wrought!
From the long score, which, so insensibly,
We run up in Time's debt, five years by thy
Mere presence are struck off, as they were naught
But fleeting figures summed up on a slate!
'Tis well worth while to lose a few years, so
To be repaid! I little heed the state
Of time, what year the almanack may show;
For I feel five years younger: and, you know,
Youth at the heart is youth without a date!
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Old days are with me, and the joyous chime
Of youth comes, with thy voice, back on mine ear:
And things to memory now, to hope then dear,
With life's first dew upon them in their prime;
Our twin-ambitions, eager-winged to climb
The heights of Acadëmic honours, ere
The world, and all its larger-hearted sphere,
Had opened on us, Life, and Love, and Rhyme!
Years have passed by since then, and where are we
At shaking hands again, to manhood grown?
Old Time to sober mirth has tamed our glee,
And by the way our wild oats all are sown:
Yet the old heart of our Humanitie
Is left, all other losses to atone!
Of youth comes, with thy voice, back on mine ear:
And things to memory now, to hope then dear,
With life's first dew upon them in their prime;
Our twin-ambitions, eager-winged to climb
The heights of Acadëmic honours, ere
The world, and all its larger-hearted sphere,
Had opened on us, Life, and Love, and Rhyme!
Years have passed by since then, and where are we
At shaking hands again, to manhood grown?
Old Time to sober mirth has tamed our glee,
And by the way our wild oats all are sown:
Yet the old heart of our Humanitie
Is left, all other losses to atone!
| The Poetry of Real Life | |