John Collins

John Collins Poems

John Collins Biography

John Collins (1742 – 2 May 1808) was an English entertainer and poet from Birmingham. He was born in Bath but traveled widely in England and Ireland to perform in plays and musical theatre. He published The Brush, a collection of songs. In 1793 he settled in Birmingham, and in 1804 published a collection of poems and lyrics in Scripscrapologia.)

The Best Poem Of John Collins

Tomorrow

In the down-hill of life, when I find I'm declining,
May my fate no less fortunate be
Than a snug elbow-chair will 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 honors may wait till Tomorrow.

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

And when I at last must throw off this frail covering,
Which I've worn for three-score years and ten,
On the brink of the grave I'll not seek to keep hovering,
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;
And this old worn-out stuff, which is threadbare today,
May become everlasting tomorrow.

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