The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Preface

The best and the last!
I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore,
And bade me creep past.
No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers
The heroes of old,
Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life’s arrears
Of pain, darkness and cold.
‘Prospice’ (1864)
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith, ‘A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all nor be afraid!’
‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’ (1864) st. 1
Shall life succeed in that it seems to fail:
What I aspired to be,
And was not, comforts me:
A brute I might have been, but would not sink i’ the scale.
‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’ (1864) st. 7
For note, when evening shuts,
A certain moment cuts
The deed off, calls the glory from the grey.
‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’ (1864) st. 16
Fancies that broke through language and escaped.
‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’ (1864) st. 25
Fool! All that is, at all,
Lasts ever, past recall;
Earth changes, but thy soul and God stand sure.
‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’ (1864) st. 27
Time’s wheel runs back or stops: potter and clay endure.
‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’ (1864) st. 27
He fixed thee ’mid this dance
Of plastic circumstance.
‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’ (1864) st. 28
My times be in Thy hand!
Perfect the cup as planned!
Let age approve of youth, and death complete the same!
‘Rabbi Ben Ezra’ (1864) st. 32
Youth means love,