"I said to Love"

I said to Love,
"It is not now as in old days
When men adored thee and thy ways
All else above;
Named thee the Boy, the Bright, the One
Who spread a heaven beneath the sun,"
I said to Love.

I said to him,
"We now know more of thee than then;
We were but weak in judgment when,
With hearts abrim,
We clamoured thee that thou would'st please
Inflict on us thine agonies,"
I said to him.

I said to Love,
"Thou art not young, thou art not fair,
No faery darts, no cherub air,
Nor swan, nor dove
Are thine; but features pitiless,
And iron daggers of distress,"
I said to Love.

"Depart then, Love! . . .
- Man's race shall end, dost threaten thou?
The age to come the man of now
Know nothing of? -
We fear not such a threat from thee;
We are too old in apathy!
Mankind shall cease.--So let it be,"
I said to Love.
---Thomas Hardy

WHEN PRESENT ENVIES THE PAST.....

So wonderful were those 22 years ;
When my nearest were actually near,
and each of those days went by with a happy cheer ;
I had enough food in my belly--courtesy my mother,
and my dearest were so near,I had nothing to bother;

For every single moment spent in that tinsel town,
I was the prince with a golden crown;

But alas! The prince embraced a guy called "ambition";
And saying buy to my hometown was hell of a perturbation;

For the new place,though extremely beautiful and grand;
And though it housed the wisest of the crew,
every face made me imagine Katherine the Shrew;

for the crew ranked high on ego,low on emotion;
And regional groupism was an accepted supposition;

The transformation that I underwent was so quick and fast;
Adieu my old self and away I cast;

Protecting the trunk of my thoughts with a strong lock,
now I became Cindrella post 12 O'clock;

Now I am lesser a man,more a tortoise;
And my face is opaque like the stone turquoise;

So,even if I am amongst the many,
Looking cheerful and sipping an evening tea,
I am lesser in that group and more in that tea;

Now,I have some forced food in my belly--courtesy the mess;
And now,how I am--is anyone's guess;

My ears await dearly for the welcome sound of "Bell's invention";
And if its a friend at the other end,it feels like a divine intervention;