Poems of Sentiment by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
page 31 of 88 (35%)
page 31 of 88 (35%)
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To give me also the HEART of youth?
With the cheek of rose and the eye of beauty, And the lustrous looks of life's lost prime, Wilt thou bring thronging each hope and longing That made the glory of that dead Time? When the sap in the trees sets young buds bursting, And the song of the birds fills the air like spray, Will rivers of feeling come once more stealing From the beautiful hills of the far-away? Wilt thou demolish the tower of reason, And fling for ever down into the dust The caution time brought me, the lessons life taught me, And put in their places my old sweet trust? If Time's foot-print from my brow is driven, Canst thou, too, take with thy subtle powers The burden of thinking, and let me go drinking The careless pleasures of youth's bright hours? If silver threads from my tresses vanish, If a glow once more in my pale cheek gleams, Wilt thou slay duty and give back the beauty Of days untroubled by aught but dreams? When the soft fair arms of the siren Summer Encircle the earth in their languorous fold, Will vast, deep oceans of sweet emotions Surge through my veins as they surged of old? Canst thou bring back from a day long-vanished The leaping pulse and the boundless aim? |
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