| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
| |
| Edmund Waller. 1606–1687 |
| |
| 306. Old Age |
| |
| THE seas are quiet when the winds give o'er; | |
| So calm are we when passions are no more. | |
| For then we know how vain it was to boast | |
| Of fleeting things, so certain to be lost. | |
| Clouds of affection from our younger eyes | 5 |
| Conceal that emptiness which age descries. | |
| |
| The soul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd, | |
| Lets in new light through chinks that Time hath made: | |
| Stronger by weakness, wiser men become | |
| As they draw near to their eternal home. | 10 |
| Leaving the old, both worlds at once they view | |
| That stand upon the threshold of the new. | |
|
|
