Poem by Thomas Bailey Aldrich

* * *

I vex me not with brooding on the years
  That were ere I drew breath; why should I then
   Distrust the darkness that may fall again
   When life is done? Perchance in other spheres—
Dead planets—I once tasted mortal tears,
   And walked as now among a throng of men,
   Pondering things that lay beyond my ken,
   Questioning death, and solacing my fears.
Offtimes indeed strange sense I have of this,
   Vague memories that hold me with a spell,
   Touches of unseen lips upon my brow,
Breathing some incommunicable bliss!
   In years foregone, O soul, was all not well?
Still lovelier life awaits thee. Fear not thou!

1. Sweetheart, Sigh No More
2. The Undiscovered Country
3. At the Funeral of a Minor Poet
4. Hesperides
5. Like Crusoe, Walking by the Lonely Strand

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