New Year
Rondeau
With vain regret we watch the year
Departing. Eighty-nine is here,
And poor old Eighty-eight has ended —
And have our ways and morals mended
A whit these twelve months gone, my dear?
No great improvement will appear
In either yours or mine, I fear;
The past had best go unattended
With vain regret.
Of dark surmises keeping clear,
Let's wisely take without a tear
The bitter with the sweetness blended;
We'll hope by Fate to be befriended,
Nor sigh, when Ninety shall be near
With vain regret.
~~
Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947)
from Twilight and Candle-Shades, 1888
[Poem is in the public domain in Canada and the United States]
Richard Le Gallienne biography
No comments:
Post a Comment