Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THREESCORE AND TEN, by HENRY AUSTIN DOBSON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THREESCORE AND TEN, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: So landor wrote, and so I quote
Last Line: With light of retrospect.
Alternate Author Name(s): Dobson, Austin
Subject(s): Old Age


'Age never droops into decrepitude while Fancy stands at his side.'

SO LANDOR wrote, and so I quote,
And wonder if he knew;
There is so much to doubt about --
So much but partly true!

Can one make points with stiffened joints?
Or songs that breathe and burn?
Will not the jaded Muse refuse
An acrobatic turn?

There was a time when dancing rhyme
Ran readily to cantos;
But now it seems too late a date
For galliards and corantos.

One must beware, too, lest one's pace
Disgrace one's ROXALANE,
For e'en Decrepitude, my Friend,
Must bend -- in a pavane.

No! on the whole the fittest role
For Age is the spectator's,
In roomy stall reclined behind
The 'paters' and the 'maters,'

That fondly watch the pose of those
Whose thought is still creative --
Whose point of view is fresh and new,
Not feebly imitative.

Time can no more lost Youth restore
Or rectify defect;
But it can clear a failing sight
With light of retrospect.





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net