Poems (Cook)/Stanzas ('Tis well to give honour and glory to Age)

by Eliza Cook

STANZAS.

'Tis well to give honour and glory to Age,
 With its lessons of wisdom and truth;
Yet who would not go back to the fanciful page,
 And the fairy tale read but in Youth?

Let time rolling on crown with fame or with gold—
 Let us bask in the kindliest beams;
Yet what hope can be cherish'd, what gift can we hold
 That will bless like our earlier dreams?

As wine that hath stood for a while on the board
 May yet glow as the luscious and bright;
But not with the freshness, when first it was pour'd,
 Nor its brim-kissing sparkles of light:

As the flowers live on in their fragrance and bloom,
 The long summer-day to adorn;
Yet fail with their beauty to charm and illume,
 As when clothed with the dew gems of morn:

So Life may retain its full portion of joy,
 And Fortune give all that she can;
But the feelings that gladden the breast of the boy
 Will rarely be found in the man.