When I am Old --
When I am Old --
Original Text
Cross Roads. New York: Frank Lovell, Bible House, 1919.
1When I am old and drenched in worlds of sadness,
2 And wear a lacy cap upon my head;
3When, looking past the future's singing gladness,
4 I linger, wistful, in the years long dead.
5When I am old, and young folk all about me,
6 Speak softly of religion, when they speak,
7When parties are a grand success without me;
8 And when my laugh is fluttering and weak --
9Will I then be content to raise my glances,
10 Serenely to the cloud-entangled sky?
11And will I be content to watch at dances,
12 Without a heartbreak, as the hours pass by?
13Or when I see young lovers' fingers twine,
14Will I remember, dear, your lips on mine?
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2003
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