Classic and Contemporary Poetry
MUTABILITY, by RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: I saw two children intertwine Last Line: No fellow-soul's fraternal unions. Alternate Author Name(s): Houghton, 1st Baron; Houghton, Lord Subject(s): Mutability | ||||||||
I saw two children intertwine Their arms about each other, Like the young tendrils of a vine About its nearest brother: And ever and anon, As gaily they ran on, They looked into each other's face Anticipating an embrace. I saw these two when they were men, I watched them meet one day, They touched each other's hands -- and then Each went on his own way. There did not seem a tie Of love -- a bond or chain, To make them turn the lingering eye, Or grasp the hand again. This is a page in our life's book We all of us turn over: The web is rent, The hour-glass spent, And, oh! the paths we once forsook How seldom we recover. Our days are broken into parts, And every remnant has a tale Of the abandonment of hearts, Which make our freshest hopes grow pale; And when we talk of Friendship mutter, We know not what it is we utter. I weep not that our fate is dark, I quail not that the wild winds hark About our heads, and miseries mark Their victories on our brows: -- But though the dynasty of Fate Doth make our words a feather's weight, Doth mark our pledges with derision, And force us into indecision, And feigning of our vows -- I care not that our lore may be Deep as the everlasting sea; When will the falling of a star, The darting of a sun-born beam, Compare with what our spirits are? And what unto ourselves we seem, Is tinctured with a life so small, So wretchedly ephemeral, As thrills our phantom-like communions -- No fellow-soul's fraternal unions. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...VARIUM ET MUTABILE by THOMAS WYATT ON MUTABILITY by HUGO VON HOFMANNSTHAL MUTABILITY by EVELYN HAZLETT HUNT MUTABILITY (1) by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY COLUMBUS AND THE MAYFLOWER by RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES FROM THE IONIAN ISLANDS by RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD MORNING by RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES LONDON CHURCHES by RICHARD MONCKTON MILNES |
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