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Poem
September 5, 1881
The Daily Gazette
Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware
What is this article about?
A reflective narrative poem by John G. Saxe outlining the stages of human life from birth as a wailing infant, through childhood mischief, youthful folly, adult ambitions and love, to old age's regrets and death, pondering the fleeting nature of existence.
Clipping
OCR Quality
95%
Excellent
Full Text
THE STORY OF LIFE.
BY JOHN G. SAXE,
Say, what's life? To be born,
A helpless babe to greet the light,
With a sharp wail, as if the morn
Foretold a cloudy noon and night;
To weep, to sleep, and weep again,
With sunny smiles between, and then?
And then apace the infant grows
To be a laughing, sprightly boy.
Happy despite his little woes.
Were he but conscious of his joy!
To be in short from two to ten,
A merry, moody child, and then?
And then, in coat and trousers clad,
To learn to say the Decalogue,
And break it, an unthinking lad,
With mirth and mischief all agog,
A truant elf by field and fen,
And capture butterflies, and then?
And then, increased in strength and size,
To be anon, a youth full grown;
A hero in his mother's eyes,
A young Apollo in his own:
To imitate the ways of men,
In fashionable sin, and then?
And then at last, to be a man,
To fall in love, to woo and wed!
With seething to scheme and plan
To gather gold or toil for bread,
To sue for fame, with tongue and pen,
And gain or lose the prize, and then?
And then in gray and wrinkled eld
To mourn the speed of life's decline,
To praise the scenes of youth beheld,
And dwell in memory of lang syne,
To dream awhile with darkened ken,
Then drop into his grave, and then?
From the Baltimore Sun
BY JOHN G. SAXE,
Say, what's life? To be born,
A helpless babe to greet the light,
With a sharp wail, as if the morn
Foretold a cloudy noon and night;
To weep, to sleep, and weep again,
With sunny smiles between, and then?
And then apace the infant grows
To be a laughing, sprightly boy.
Happy despite his little woes.
Were he but conscious of his joy!
To be in short from two to ten,
A merry, moody child, and then?
And then, in coat and trousers clad,
To learn to say the Decalogue,
And break it, an unthinking lad,
With mirth and mischief all agog,
A truant elf by field and fen,
And capture butterflies, and then?
And then, increased in strength and size,
To be anon, a youth full grown;
A hero in his mother's eyes,
A young Apollo in his own:
To imitate the ways of men,
In fashionable sin, and then?
And then at last, to be a man,
To fall in love, to woo and wed!
With seething to scheme and plan
To gather gold or toil for bread,
To sue for fame, with tongue and pen,
And gain or lose the prize, and then?
And then in gray and wrinkled eld
To mourn the speed of life's decline,
To praise the scenes of youth beheld,
And dwell in memory of lang syne,
To dream awhile with darkened ken,
Then drop into his grave, and then?
From the Baltimore Sun
What sub-type of article is it?
Ballad
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
Death Mourning
What keywords are associated?
Life Stages
Birth To Death
Childhood
Youth
Old Age
Reflection
John Saxe
What entities or persons were involved?
By John G. Saxe,
Poem Details
Title
The Story Of Life.
Author
By John G. Saxe,
Form / Style
Rhyming Stanzas
Key Lines
Say, What's Life? To Be Born,
And Then In Gray And Wrinkled Eld
To Mourn The Speed Of Life's Decline,
Then Drop Into His Grave, And Then?