Seduced by the abstract noun to forget the real ,
to forget the throb and pulse of youthful blood
and let the passing of his years repeal
the judgments that his flesh once understood ,
he attempts pronouncements through mere intellect
not with those senses , once so sweet and strong
but attenuated now , in themselves suspect
as a world to which he can no more belong .

Now past the intensity of passionate youth
he turns instead to climb the glacial heights
of the ladder of abstraction , seeking truth
in other than the senses' giddy flights.

And yet Tithonus still cannot dismiss
the memory of sweet Aurora's kiss .