Classic Poem

SO L ANDOR wrote, and so I quote,
And wonder if he knew;
There is so much to doubt about —
So much but partly true!

Can one make points with stiffened joints?
Or songs that breathe and burn?
Will not the jaded Muse refuse
An acrobatic turn?

There was a time when dancing rhyme
Ran readily to cantos;
But now it seems too late a date
For galliards and corantos.

One must beware, too, lest one's pace
Disgrace one's R OXALANE ,
For e'en Decrepitude, my Friend,
Must bend — in a pavane .

No! on the whole the fittest role
For Age is the spectator's,
In roomy stall reclined behind
The " paters" and the " maters,"

That fondly watch the pose of those
Whose thought is still creative —
Whose point of view is fresh and new,
Not feebly imitative.

Time can no more lost Youth restore
Or rectify defect;
But it can clear a failing sight
With light of retrospect.