Helen B Cruickshank (1886-1975), Angus lass o' pairts, former London civil servant, and luminary of the Edinburgh literary scene, has some indications of ageing to offer in this piece from her Collected Poems (Reprographia, 1971).
A TEST
If, where the beech leaves thickly lie
In golden autumn weather,
You walk sedately, stepping high
Lest you should dim shoe-leather;
Or if you pass an orchard wall
Where apples red invite you,
And never hear the tempter's call
To steal 'just one' incite you;
Or if you bridge a country stream,
Nor lean to look and wonder
If shadowy trout with scaly gleam
Are quivering thereunder;
Or if you hear the night-owl's cry
The woods with echoes filling,
And feel no sense of mystery
Within your bosom thrilling;
Then by these faded leaves of gold,
Ripe fruit, chill waters falling,
You know, poor heart, that you are old,
And owls your dirge are calling.
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