I Am Not Old

I am not old — though years have cast
Their shadows on my way;
I am not old — though youth has pass'd
On rapid wings away.
For in my heart a fountain flows,
And round it pleasant thoughts repose;
And sympathies and feelings high,
Spring like the stars on evening's sky.
I am not old — Time may have set
"His signet on my brow,"
And some faint furrows there have met,
Which care may deepen now:
Yet love, fond love, a chaplet weaves
Of fresh, young buds and verdant leaves;
And still in fancy I can twine
Thoughts, sweet as flowers, that once were mine.