The Opelousas courier., 1883-10-13

Tread by Dr.. Oliver Wendell Holmes as Response
ct the Breakfast extended MIN in Boston by an array
q literary celebrities on the event of his 10th birth
dayl
Where is this patriarch you are kindly ~greeting7
Not unfamiliar to my ears his name,
Nor yet unknown to many Joyous meeting
In days long vanished-is he still the same2
On, changed by years, forgotten and forgetting,
bull-eared, diua-sighted, slow of speech ana
q Ger lie sd, degenerate present fretting,
Where all goes wrong and nothing as it ought
old age, the gray beardl Well, indeed, 1 know
shrunk, lettering, bent, Of aches and Ills the
In sermon, story, fable, picture, poem,
OFT have I met him from my earliest day
In my old Esop, toiling with his bundle~
BIS load OF Sticks-pOlitely asking death.
Who comes when called for-would he lug or truns
die
His agot for him? n was scant of breath.
And, sad (Ecclesiastes, or the preacher)-
Has he not stamped the image IN my soul
In that last chapter, where the worn.out teacher
Signs Ger the loosened cord, the broken bowl?
Yes, long indeed, I've known him at a distance,
And now my lifted door-lateh shows him here.
take his slriveled hand without resistance
And find him smiling an his step draws near
What though Of gilded bawbles he beFeaves US,
Deart 70 the heart of youth, to nanhoods prime;
Think Of the calm he brings, the wealth he leaves
The boarded spoils, the legacies of time
Affairs once flaming, still with incense fragrant,
Paasions' uneasy nursing rookie asleep,
2 Hopes anchor faster, wild desire less vagraut,
- Lies row less noisy, but the stream how deep.
ssh, rs the silver cord gels worn and slender.
vfa H0hfono6 fank-HpnPk frt0a ~ift lncaouing StT0in
q Hands gets more helpful, voices grow more tender,
6oothe with their softened tones the slumbrous
brain.
Youth longs and manhood strives, but age remem-
% Sits b the raked up ashes Of the past,
That warm it's creeping life blood till the last.
Dearto it's heart is every loving token
q That comes unbidden ere its pulse grows cold,
Ere the last lingering ties of life are broken,
Its laborH ended and its story told.
Al, when around US rosy youth ~reioices,
5 For Us the sorrow-laden breezes sigh,
And through the chorus OF its jocund voices
Throb the sharp notes of misery's hopeless cry.
Ason the gauzy winss Of fancy flying
From some far orb I track our watery sphere
Home Of the struggling, suffering, doubling, dying
The slvered globule seems Q glistening tear.
But nature lends her mirror of illusion
~ win from ~naddening scenes our age-dimmed
p And misty day-areams blend in sweet confusion
The wintry landscape and the summer skies.
90 when tho iron portal shuts behind us,
10 And life foEgets us in its noise and whirly
Visions that Stunned the glarIng monday find US,
And glimmertng starlight shows the gates OF
pearl
M " #4AHAEL@# 44nEMeE
Tcsrne not here your morning hour to sadden
Al limping pilgrim, leaning on his staff
7, who hare never deemed 1t sin to gladden.
n This vale Of sorrows with q wholesome laugh.
II WORD Of mime another's gloom has frightened,
Through my duab lips the heaven-sent message
III hand of mine another's task has lightened
1t felt the guidance that 1t dares not claim.
But ohi my gentle sisterss ohl my brothers,
These thick soWn SNOW fakes hint Of tolls re-
Thess fsehler pulses bid me leave to others
The tasks once Welcome; evening asks for peace.
Time claims his tribute; silence now 10 golden;
Let me not vex the too long suffering Tyre;
Though to your love u~ntiring still beholden;
The curfew tells me--cOvcrs up the fire.
And nov with grateful smile and accents cheerful,
I'm simplest phrase--these t~raitorous eyes are tear
lui-
Thanks. hrothera aistsrs-children-and farewell