Poems (Sharpless)/"We are the Old Women of To-day"

by Frances M. Sharpless

"WE ARE THE OLD WOMEN OF TO-DAY"

The glory and the beauty of the spring,
 The summer's glowing bloom,—
These are departed, yet doth autumn bring
 Its blessing and perfume.

Fruits ripened by the sunshine and the shower,
 Harvests of quiet thought,—
Are these less precious than the early flower,
 These that the years have brought?

Amid the snows of age, the heart is warm,
 The spirit laughs at years;
Escapes the trammels of the failing form
 And wings to timeless spheres.

Old women? yes, but youthful souls no less,
 Heart unto heart still true;
Affection hath as strong a power to bless
 As when our life was new.

Beneath the fetter of the ice-bound sod,
 Life throbs within the root,
And in the future 'neath the smile of God
 Shall yield its perfect fruit.