 | Poems from the Garland of New Poetry |  |
19
ON CHANGE OF OPINIONS
As you advance in years you long
For what you scorned when but a boy:
Then 'twas the town, now the birds' song
Is your obsession and your joy.
For what you scorned when but a boy:
Then 'twas the town, now the birds' song
Is your obsession and your joy.
And, as you lie and die, maybe
You will look back, unreconciled
To that dark hour, and clearly see
Yourself a little wistful child.
You will look back, unreconciled
To that dark hour, and clearly see
Yourself a little wistful child.
Into the jaws of death you'll bring
No virile triumph, wrought with pain;
But only to the monster fling
The daydream and the daisy-chain,
No virile triumph, wrought with pain;
But only to the monster fling
The daydream and the daisy-chain,
The lispéd word, the gentle touch,
The wonder, and the mystic thought,
For old gray Death upon his crutch
To rake into his Bag of Nought.
The wonder, and the mystic thought,
For old gray Death upon his crutch
To rake into his Bag of Nought.
| Poems from the Garland of New Poetry | |