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A Portrait

By Oliver Wendell Holmes

Topics: classic

Thoughtful in youth, but not austere in age;     Calm, but not cold, and cheerful though a sage;     Too true to flatter and too kind to sneer,     And only just when seemingly severe;     So gently blending courtesy and art     That wisdom's lips seemed borrowing friendship's heart.     Taught by the sorrows that his age had known     In others' trials to forget his own,     As hour by hour his lengthened day declined,     A sweeter radiance lingered o'er his mind.     Cold were the lips that spoke his early praise,     And hushed the voices of his morning days,     Yet the same accents dwelt on every tongue,     And love renewing kept him ever young.

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Author:Oliver Wendell Holmes

"Thoughtful in youth, but not austere in age;..." by Oliver Wendell Holmes

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Oliver Wendell Holmes

About Oliver Wendell Holmes

Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. (1809–1894) was an American poet, physician, and essayist. His poems "Old Ironsides" and "The Chambered Nautilus" are American classics. He was part of the Fireside Poets group.

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