Page:The-knickerbocker-gallery-(knickerbockergal00clarrich).djvu/204

I see it in my changing taste,
 I see it in my changing hair,
I see it in my growing waist,
 I see it in my growing heir;
A thousand signs proclaim the truth,
 As plain as truth was ever told,
That even in my vaunted youth,
I'm growing old!

Ah me! my very laurels breathe
 The tale in my reluctant ears,
And every boon the Hours bequeath,
 But makes me debtor to the Years!
E'en Flattery's honied words declare
 The secret she would fain withhold,
And tells me in "How young you are!"
I'm growing old!

Thanks for the years, whose rapid flight
 My sombre muse too sadly sings!
Thanks for the gleams of golden light
That tint the darkness of their wings!
The light that beams from out the sky,
 Those heavenly mansions to unfold,
Where all are blest, and none may sigh,
"I'm growing old."