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LATER LIFE: A DOUBLE SONNET OF SONNETS, 6, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: We lack, yet cannot fix upon the lack
Last Line: And strong to bear ourselves in patient pain?
Alternate Author Name(s): Alleyne, Ellen; Rossetti, Christina


We lack, yet cannot fix upon the lack:
Not this, nor that; yet somewhat, certainly.
We see the things we do not yearn to see
Around us: and what see we glancing back?
Lost hopes that leave our hearts upon the rack,
Hopes that were never ours yet seemed to be,
For which we steered on life's salt stormy sea
Braving the sunstroke and the frozen pack.
If thus to look behind is all in vain,
And all in vain to look to left or right,
Why face we not our future once again,
Launching with hardier hearts across the main,
Straining dim eyes to catch the invisible sight,
And strong to bear ourselves in patient pain?





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