Experience

John Boyle O'Reilly 1844 (Dowth) – 1890 (Boston)



THE world was made when a man was born,
He must taste for himself the forbidden springs;
He can never take warning from old-fashion'd things;
He must fight as a boy, he must drink as a youth,
Of the friend of his soul; he must laugh to scorn
The hints of deceit in a woman's eyes--
They are clear as the wells of Paradise.

And so he goes on till the world grows old,
Till his toung has grown cautious, his heart has grown cold,
Till the smile leaves his mouth, till the ring leaves his laugh,
And he shirks the bright headache you ask him to quaff.
He grows formal with men, and with women polite,
And distrustful of both when they're out of his sight.
Then he eats for his palate and drinks for his head,
And loves for his pleasure,--and 'tis time he was dead.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

46 sec read
73

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBXAXX CCDDEEFF
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 755
Words 151
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 7, 8

John Boyle O'Reilly

John Boyle O'Reilly was an Irish-born poet, journalist and fiction writer. more…

All John Boyle O'Reilly poems | John Boyle O'Reilly Books

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    "Experience" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/21999/experience>.

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    Quiz

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    Who wrote the poem "School Boy" as a part of the poetry collection entitled "Songs of Experience"?
    A Robert Frost
    B Walt Whitman
    C William Wordworth
    D William Blake