Poems (Hooper)/Too Old
For works with similar titles, see Too Old.
TOO OLD.
O sich mich nicht so lächelnd an.
O human rosebud, maiden fair, Look not so smilingly on me!Thy glance, that well might bless a world, But thrills my soul with agony. My heart to deeper sadness Thy friendliness doth move; Forever past, forever The days of love.
Were I but young and glad as thou, Were I from woe and sin as free,How would my heart now beat for thine, How blest together we might be! Unto what magic power Did I that sweet dream owe? Alas! what doth with blossoms The withered bough?
My life has reached its sunset hour; Thine enters on its sunny day; My heart is cold, my heart is dead, Thine throbs as ever light and gay. Thy happiness thou seest Far 'mid the Future's glow; My sad gaze seeks returning The long ago.
Then, human rosebud, maiden fair, Look not with friendliness on me!Thy glance, that well might bless a world, But thrills my soul with agony. No, let me forth to wander Far o'er land and wave; Thou'lt find another lover, And I—a grave.Geibel.