Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE LAST MEMORY, by ARTHUR WILLIAM SYMONS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE LAST MEMORY, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: When I am old, and think of the old days
Last Line: When you are no more young, and I am old.
Subject(s): Old Age


When I am old, and think of the old days,
And warm my hands before a little blaze,
Having forgotten love, hope, fear, desire,
I shall see, smiling out of the pale fire,
One face, mysterious and exquisite;
And I shall gaze, and ponder over it,
Wondering, was it Leonardo wrought
That stealthy ardency, where passionate thought
Burns inward, a revealing flame, and glows
To the last ecstasy, which is repose?
Was it Bronzino, those Borghese eyes?
And, musing thus among my memories,
O unforgotten! you will come to seem,
As pictures do, remembered, some old dream.
And I shall think of you as something strange.
And beautiful, and full of helpless change,
Which I beheld and carried in my heart;
But you, I loved, will have become a part
Of the eternal mystery, and love
Like a dim pain; and I shall bend above
My little fire, and shiver, being cold,
When you are no more young, and I am old.





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