ONSEEINGMRS.K——B——,AGEDUPWARDSOFEIGHTY,NURSEANINFANT

onseeingmrs.k——b——,agedupwardsofeighty,nurseaninfant

asightlikethismightfindapology

inworldsunsway'dbyourchronology;

astullysays,(thethought'sinplato)—

"todieisbuttogotocato."

ofthisworldtimeisoftheessence,—

akindofuniversalpresence;

andthereforepoetsshouldhavemadehim

notonlyold,asthey'vepourtray'dhim,

butyoung,mature,andold—allthree

inone—asortofmystery—

('tishardtopaintabstractionpure.)

hereyoung—thereold—andnowmature—

justasweseesomeoldbook-print,

nottoonesceneitsherostint;

but,inthedistance,takeoccasion

todrawhiminsomeotherstation.

herethisprepost'rousunionseems

akindofmeetingofextremes.

yemaynotlivetogether.meanye

topassthatgulfthatliesbetweenye

offourscoreyears,asweskipages

inturningo'erhistoricpages?

thoudostnottothisagebelong:

thouartthreegenerationswrong:

oldtimehasmiss'dthee:therehetarries!

goontothycontemporaries!

givethechildup.toseetheekisshim

isacompleatanachronism.

nay,keephim.itisgoodtosee

racelink'dtorace,inhimandthee.

thechildrepellethnotatall

hertouchasuncongenial,

butlovestheoldnurselikeanother—

itssister—oritsnaturalmother;

andtothenurseaprideitgives

tothink(thoughold)thatstillshelives

withone,whomaynothopeinvain

toliveheryearsallo'eragain!