Methinks My Friends Grow Beauteous in My Sight

by Julia Ward Howe

This poem was written when Ms. Howe was 72 or 73 years old (1892-1893). It was published in her daughters' biography, Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), which earned Laura E. Richards and Maud Howe Elliott the Pulitzer Prize in 1917.

An illustration for the story Methinks My Friends Grow Beauteous in My Sight by the author Julia Ward Howe — Julia Ward Howe at 83, circa 1902

Methinks my friends grow beauteous in my sight,
As the years make their havoc of sweet things;
Like the intenser glory of the light
When the sad bird of Autumn sits and sings.
Ah! woe is me! ah! Memory,
Be cheerful, thanking God for things that be.

Enjoy reading Ms. Howe's best-known poem, The Battle Hymn of the Republic.

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