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Muse and Mint

Chapter 105: THE OLD MOON IN THE ARMS OF THE NEW
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About This Book

A varied collection of short lyrical poems that observes nature and rural life, using seasonal imagery—sap, snow, rivers, cherries—and simple domestic scenes to reflect on change, beauty, and small joys. Sections shift between fireside recollections, sentimental and philosophical meditations, homiletic and religious pieces, and light humor, blending devotional songlike verses with moral aphorisms and affectionate memory. The voice moves between wistful and buoyant moods, finding consolation and ethical insight in commonplace experiences, while concise stanzas and vivid images emphasize mood and moral reflection rather than a continuous narrative.

THE OLD MOON IN THE ARMS OF THE NEW

The young moon rises low
Just where the passing earth
Has stood aside to help it grow,
Once it has come to birth.
Yet on the old moon’s back
The image of the new
Reflected is with lustre-lack
From earth it kindled to.
In gleaming arms of youth
The sire is embraced;
The silver edge of ancient truth
In younger truth is traced.
The clasp of morning love
Embosoms that of eve;
And memory’s in the crescent of
Old age’s child-reprieve.
A sickly sickle frames
The lusty one that reaps;
So power, pleasure, fortune, fame’s
Pale as the keener sweeps.
Our latest wish infolds
The hope that’s almost spent,
And every rim of promise holds
The past to future bent.
But not so feebly say
Youth hastens on the heels
Of age, but that ’tis nature’s way
Our myriad orb reveals.