If I remember Youth and its brief years -- A flair of folly, mad outburst of fun; A lilting tune and then the tune has run Upon the empty beach of woe and tears; A full-blown rose; a hearth-fire turning grey; An empty sound as clanking brasses meet; A gush of laughter down a quiet street; I'll surely challenge Youth its hurried stay! O, lift the cup of wonder lest it spill -- Like wine the last few drops are ever best; O, stir the blaze of Beauty, let it flame Until it satisfies us with its thrill! As Youth-fires die age quietly sinks to rest, Content to bear the memories of its name. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...WILLIE BREW'D A PECK O' MAUT by ROBERT BURNS TO CORINTH by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR WHICH WAS MOST TRULY DEAD? by CHARLES AUGUSTIN SAINTE-BEUVE THE PHOENIX AND THE TURTLE by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE THE ARGONAUTS (ARGONATUICA): MEDEA BETRAYED by APOLLONIUS RHODIUS EPIGRAM ON MISS DAVIES; LINES WRITTEN ON A WINDOW AT MOFFAT INN by ROBERT BURNS |