en!
What noble matches Winter might have seen;
And in Old Age what glorious Hazards foil'd,
What Zest of painful Pleasures might have been!

LXXII

WOULD but the dim Face of old Winter yield
One glimpse of green, like Youth to Age reveal'd,
Thro' which once more the failing Limbs might spring
As springs the trampled Herbage of the Field.

LXXIII

AH! with the Green my fading life provide,
Some ancient golfing Crony by my side:
Content to play one Round, or, meeker still,
To mix a gentle Foursome satisfied.

LXXIV

THAT even the wavering Remnant of the Swing
May bear some witness to my virtuous Spring,
And leave no True-believer passing-by
Unedified by its Admonishing.

LXXV

WOULD but the god of Golfers ere too late
Arrest the sure-advancing step of Fate,
What matter if we play the Odd or Like?
Or--if we play--hole out in Four or Eight?

LXXVI

AH, let the Honor go to Fate, and let
All difficulties by that Crack be met;
The Duffer still may win a Half or two,
Content while Fate is only Dormie yet.

LXXVII

OR if ev'n this be taken, you and I
May still fare onward calmly, honestly,
Nor care how many Down the Record stand:
The Match is over--Let us play the Bye!

LXXVIII

YON rising Moon that leads us Home again,
How oft hereafter will she wax and wane;
How oft hereafter rising wait for us
At this same Turning--and for _One_ in vain.

LXXIX

AND when, like her, my Golfer, I have been
And am no more above the pleasant Green,
And you in your mild Journey pass the Hole
I made in One--ah! pay my Forfeit then!

TAMAM

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Golfer's Rubaiyat, by H. W. Boynton

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