Poems (Frances Elizabeth Browne)/The three ages of human life
THE THREE AGES OF HUMAN LIFE.
Childhood, careless age, farewell! Thy scenes have passed away,And it makes the heart in my bosom swell,While thus I sing thy parting knell, And think of thy joyous day.
Youth, thou art speeding on thy course, And art gliding swiftly by;Each hour augments the rapid forceWith which, like a torrent from its source, Thy rapid moments fly.
Age, with the silver locks art thou Destined my fate to mark? Cheerless and sad thou seemest now;Thy withered cheek and thy wrinkled brow Unlovely are and dark.
Life, thou art ever changing, still Fleeting from goal to goal,With the stealthy pace of a trickling rill,For eternity's boundless sea to fill Thy fair, but fragile, bowl.