By
William Wordsworth in
1846.
He was seventy-six years old himself at the time.
Affections lose their object;
Time brings forth
No successors; and, lodged in memory,
If
love exist no longer, it must die,--
Wanting accustomed food, must
pass from earth,
Or never hope to reach a
second birth.
This sad belief, the happiest that is left
To thousands, share not Thou; howe'er bereft,
Scorned, or
neglected, fear not such a dearth.
Though
poor and destitute of friends thou art,
Perhaps the
sole survivor of thy race,
One to whom
Heaven assigns that
mournful part
The utmost
solitude of age to face,
Still shall be left some corner of the heart
Where
Love for living Thing can find a place.