You see

How others work again and weep again,

And hope and fear. Thy alabaster room

With marble floor and dainty hangings has

A look so still, that others wonder why

They feel it churchlike. All thy life is here;

Thy life hath built the vault and paved it, and

Thy hands have woven yonder curtains that

Surround thy seat, a shady sunshine.

Age

{6}

Is feeble not to thee, as all thy wishes

Are silent and demand no effort. Age

Is kind to thee, allows thee all the rest

That never came, when life was hard and toilsome.

Receive it with a smile and clothe thyself

In white, in Nature's silver crown, and sing

A lullaby of promise and of comfort.

Tell them that life is precious, after work,

And after grief and after all the deaths,

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