When Age comes on!–
“The deepening dusk is where the dawn
Once glittered splendid, and the dew
In honey-drips, from red rose-lips
Was kissed away by me and you.–
And now across the frosty lawn
Black foot-prints trail, and Age comes on–
And Age comes on!
And biting wild-winds whistle through
Our tattered hopes–and Age comes on!
When Age comes on!–
O tide of raptures, long withdrawn,
Flow back in summer-floods, and fling
Here at our feet our childhood sweet,
And all the songs we used to sing! . . .
Old loves, old friends–all dead and gone–
Our old faith lost–and Age comes on–
And Age comes on!
Poor hearts! have we not anything
But longings left when Age comes on?
ENVOY.
Just as of old! The world rolls on and on;
The day dies into night–night into dawn–
Dawn into dusk–through centuries untold.–
Just as of old.
Time loiters not. The river ever flows,
Its brink or white with blossoms or with snows;
Its tide or warm with Spring or Winter cold:
Just as of old.
Lo! where is the beginning, where the end
Of living, loving, longing? Listen, friend!–
God answers with a silence of pure gold–
Just as of old.
(James Whitcomb Riley)
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Based on Topics: God Poems, World Poems, Time Poems, Friendship Poems, Silence Poems, Listening PoemsBased on Keywords: foot-prints, rose-lips, lost-and, summer-floods, night-night, wild-winds