I have a hoard of treasure in my breast;
The grange of memory steams against the door,
Full of my bygone lifetime’s garnered store –
Old pleasures crowned with sorrow for a zest,
Old sorrow grown a joy, old penance blest,
Chastened remembrance of the sins of yore
That, like a new evangel, more and more
Supports our halting will toward the best.
Ah! what to us the barren after years
May bring of joy or sorrow, who can tell?
O, knowing not, who cares? It may be well
That we shall find old pleasures and old fears,
And our remembered childhood seen thro’ tears,
The best of Heaven and the worst of Hell.
(Robert Louis Stevenson)
More Poetry from Robert Louis Stevenson:
Robert Louis Stevenson Poems based on Topics: Fear, Sadness, Heaven, Joy & Excitement, Sin, Memory, Hell- After Reading Antony and Cleopatra (Robert Louis Stevenson Poems)
- Ad Se Ipsum (Robert Louis Stevenson Poems)
- Block City (Robert Louis Stevenson Poems)
- Escape at Bedtime (Robert Louis Stevenson Poems)
- Had I The Power That Have The Will (Robert Louis Stevenson Poems)
- In Charidemum (Robert Louis Stevenson Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Sadness Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Heaven Poems, Fear Poems, Sin Poems, Memory Poems, Hell PoemsBased on Keywords: chastened, steams, evangel, grange, garnered, halting