Retirement Poems
Memory
by William Wordsworth
A pen--to register; a key--
That winds through secret wards
Are well assigned to Memory
By allegoric Bards.
As aptly, also, might be given
A Pencil to her hand;
That, softening objects, sometimes even
Outstrips the heart's demand;
......
Sam Goes To It
by Marriott Edgar
Sam Small had retired from the Army,
In the old Duke of Wellington's time,
So when present unpleasantness started,
He were what you might call... past his prime.
He'd lived for some years in retirement,
And knew nowt of war, if you please,
Till they blasted and bombed his allotment,
And shelled the best part of his peas.
......
My Hero, My Dad
by Susan A. Birowski
There was a time you held my hand
as a child too young to understand.
You repaired broken toys and shined everyone's shoes.
Regaled WWII stories at least a thousand times or two.
It was you who introduced me to the University of Notre Dame,
and ultimately, I realized nothing would ever be the same.
I recall my first visit to the campus, oh so vividly.
The beautiful Lady atop the Golden Dome looked just heavenly.
Your job at Hercules gave you such tremendous satisfaction.
How about my unexpected visit and your surprised reaction.
......
Retirement
by Anne Brontë
O, let me be alone a while,
No human form is nigh.
And may I sing and muse aloud,
No mortal ear is by.
Away! ye dreams of earthly bliss,
Ye earthly cares begone:
Depart! ye restless wandering thoughts,
And let me be alone!
One hour, my spirit, stretch thy wings,
......
King Candaules And The Doctor Of Laws
by Jean De La Fontaine
IN life oft ills from self-imprudence spring;
As proof, Candaules' story we will bring;
In folly's scenes the king was truly great:
His vassal, Gyges, had from him a bait,
The like in gallantry was rarely known,
And want of prudence never more was shown.
MY friend, said he, you frequently have seen
The beauteous face and features of the queen;
But these are naught, believe me, to the rest,
......
Goodbye Youth Hello Life
by Dr. Robert Ippaso
They say youth is but momentary,
An emotional journey, a fleeting mirage,
Where uncharted waters are a treat not a foil
Tempered only by fates willful barrage.
But as time marches on and life settles in
with a rhythm well known and rehearsed,
A mixture of joy, tedium and tears
To the beat of our life we're soon versed.
......
Slow Motion
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
My zealous passion for marathons, had me in frequent races,
Striving always for that finish line, and touring many places.
I always seemed to come alive, with cool breezes rushing by,
Feeling footloose and fancy-free, like blackbirds in a blue sky.
And when I crossed the finish line, I would get a certain thrill,
Like a thrilling moonlit evening, as you hear the whippoorwill!
I was in the midst of happy days, like magnolias awash in sun,
......
Memory
by William Wordsworth
A pen--to register; a key--
That winds through secret wards
Are well assigned to Memory
By allegoric Bards.
As aptly, also, might be given
A Pencil to her hand;
That, softening objects, sometimes even
Outstrips the heart's demand;
......
Retirement
by Henry Vaughan
Fresh fields and woods! the Earth's fair face,
God's foot-stool, and man's dwelling-place.
I ask not why the first Believer
Did love to be a country liver?
Who to secure pious content
Did pitch by groves and wells his tent;
Where he might view the boundless sky,
And all those glorious lights on high;
With flying meteors, mists and show'rs,
Subjected hills, trees, meads and flow'rs;
......
Upon The Priory Grove, His Usual Retirement
by Henry Vaughan
Hail sacred shades! cool, leavy House!
Chaste treasurer of all my vows,
And wealth! on whose soft bosom laid
My love's fair steps I first betrayed:
Henceforth no melancholy flight,
No sad wing, or hoarse bird of night,
Disturb this air, no fatal throat
Of raven, or owl, awake the note
Of our laid echo, no voice dwell
Within these leaves, but Philomel.
......
