The Old Man Dreams Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GHGH IJIJ JKJK LJLJ JMJM NONO LJLJ POPO| OH for one hour of youthful joy | A |
| Give back my twentieth spring | B |
| I'd rather laugh a bright haired boy | A |
| Than reign a gray beard king | B |
| - | |
| Off with the spoils of wrinkled age | C |
| Away with Learning's crown | D |
| Tear out life's Wisdom written page | C |
| And dash its trophies down | D |
| - | |
| One moment let my life blood stream | E |
| From boyhood's fount of flame | F |
| Give me one giddy reeling dream | E |
| Of life all love and fame | F |
| - | |
| - | |
| - | |
| My listening angel heard the prayer | G |
| And calmly smiling said | H |
| If I but touch thy silvered hair | G |
| Thy hasty wish hath sped | H |
| - | |
| But is there nothing in thy track | I |
| To bid thee fondly stay | J |
| While the swift seasons hurry back | I |
| To find the wished for day | J |
| - | |
| Ah truest soul of womankind | J |
| Without thee what were life | K |
| One bliss I cannot leave behind | J |
| I'll take my precious wife | K |
| - | |
| The angel took a sapphire pen | L |
| And wrote in rainbow dew | J |
| The man would be a boy again | L |
| And be a husband too | J |
| - | |
| And is there nothing yet unsaid | J |
| Before the change appears | M |
| Remember all their gifts have fled | J |
| With those dissolving years | M |
| - | |
| Why yes for memory would recall | N |
| My fond paternal joys | O |
| I could not bear to leave them all | N |
| I'll take my girl and boys | O |
| - | |
| The smiling angel dropped his pen | L |
| Why this will never do | J |
| The man would be a boy again | L |
| And be a father too | J |
| - | |
| - | |
| - | |
| And so I laughed my laughter woke | P |
| The household with its noise | O |
| And wrote my dream when morning broke | P |
| To please the gray haired boys | O |
Oliver Wendell Holmes
(2)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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Write your comment about The Old Man Dreams poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Anne Phelan: A wonderful poem with lovely sentiments. We found a hand written copy among my father's papers after he died. It obviously struck a chord with him - particular as he has one daughter and two sons, so that line, indeed the whole poem, seemed to come straight from him... almost like a little message he left behind for us.
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