In the Downhill of Life

• In the downhill of life, when I find I’m declining,
• May my lot no less fortunate be
• Than a snug elbow-chair can afford for reclining,
• And a cot that o’erlooks the wide sea;
• With an ambling pad-pony to pace o’er the lawn,
• While I carol away idle sorrow,
• And blithe as the lark that each day hails the dawn
• Look forward with hope for tomorrow.

• With a porch at my door, both for shelter and shade too,
• As the sunshine or rain may prevail;
• And a small spot of ground for the use of the spade too,
• With a barn for the use of the flail;
• A cow for my dairy, a dog for my game,
• And a purse when a friend wants to borrow;
• I’ll envy no Nabob his riches or fame,
• Nor what honours may wait him tomorrow.

• From the bleak northern blast may my cot be completely
• Secured by a neighbouring hill;
• And at night may repose steal upon me more sweetly
• By the sound of a murmuring rill;
• And while peace and plenty I find at my board,
• With a heart free from sickness and sorrow,
• With my friends may I share what today may afford,
• And let them spread the table tomorrow.

• And when I at last must throw off this frail cov’ring
• Which I’ve worn for threescore years and ten,
• On the brink of the grave I’ll not seek to keep hov’ring,
• Nor my thread wish to spin o’er again;
• But my face in the glass I’ll serenely survey,
• And with smiles count each wrinkle and furrow;
• As this old worn-out stuff, which is threadbare today,
• May become everlasting tomorrow. 

William Collins (1721–1759) was an English poet whose influence was only second to Thomas Gray (1716–1771) as a poet of the middle decades of the 18th Century. Emotive and wistful in their expression, his lyrical odes mark a distinct departure from the Augustan poets of the previous generation — Alexander Pope and Michael Dryden foremost. Because his work is of florid and effusive sentiments, Collins is often seen, like William Blake, as a bridge to the Romantic era which would follow his generation’s output.