| Thomas R. Lounsbury, ed. (1838–1915). Yale Book of American Verse. 1912. |
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| Edmund Clarence Stedman. 1833–1906 |
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| 182. Si Jeunesse Savait! |
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| WHEN the veil from the eyes is lifted | |
| The seer's head is gray; | |
| When the sailor to shore has drifted | |
| The sirens are far away. | |
| Why must the clearer vision, | 5 |
| The wisdom of Life's late hour, | |
| Come, as in Fate's derision, | |
| When the hand has lost its power? | |
| Is there a rarer being, | |
| Is there a fairer sphere | 10 |
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| Where the strong are not unseeing, | |
| And the harvests are not sere; | |
| Where, ere the seasons dwindle, | |
| They yield their due return; | |
| Where the lamps of knowledge kindle | 15 |
| While the flames of youth still burn? | |
| O, for the young man's chances! | |
| O, for the old man's will! | |
| Those flee while this advances, | |
| And the strong years cheat us still. | 20 |
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