Youth and Age
Sonnet 13.
Youth and Age - meaning Summary
Desire Dimmed by Age
Longfellow's sonnet addresses the loss of youthful passion and the speaker's plea to recover earlier ardor and beauty. The aging narrator contrasts slow, painful feet and waning desire with the past's eager feelings, questioning whether Love (Amor) feeds on human sorrow and can stir longing in an old man. He suggests souls nearing spiritual transcendence may be more fitting fuel for a purer, holier passion.
Read Complete AnalysesOh give me back the days when loose and free To my blind passion were the curb and rein, Oh give me back the angelic face again, With which all virtue buried seems to be! Oh give my panting footsteps back to me, That are in age so slow and fraught with pain, And fire and moisture in the heart and brain, If thou wouldst have me burn and weep for thee! If it be true thou livest alone, Amor, On the sweet-bitter tears of human hearts, In an old man thou canst not wake desire; Souls that have almost reached the other shore Of a diviner love should feel the darts, And be as tinder to a holier fire.
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