[Editor: This poem by William Blocksidge (also known as William Baylebridge) was published in Songs o’ the South (1908).]
Youth
Time, O Time of fleeting Youth,
Time of falsehood and of truth —
Falsehood, in that Folly’s smile
Best can then our wits beguile;
Truth, in that the sceptic’s frown
Fails to pluck the promised crown —
Time of Youth, the weft is thine
That fills the warp for life’s design!
Time when Hope Ambition’s lyre
Sounds, till thrilling chords inspire;
Time when Learning’s fields unfold
Treasures brighter far than gold;
Time when Love with tender lute
Teaches other themes till mute,
When her strain, alone enchanting,
Former hopes of fame recanting,
Finds desire another goal,
Fairer to the raptured soul;
Time of Youth, delay thy flight —
Beyond thee is the louring night!
But ah! on hasty wing she speeds,
And never exhortation heeds.
Along! she cries, I must along!
But while I pass, in faith be strong.
Reaps Youth the wealth of golden grain
So long maturing in the brain?
Time teaches how to mend our ways;
And Wisdom waits on riper days.
Source:
William Blocksidge, Songs o’ the South, London: Watts, 1908, pp. 19-20
Editor’s notes:
along = to move forwards, onwards (e.g. move along, going along)
lour = dark, gloomy, overcast, showing signs of bad weather (e.g. dark clouds); to frown, to be sullen in appearance (is also an alternate spelling of: lower)
lute = a plucked string instrument, similar to a guitar, with a bowl-shaped body (shaped like an egg split vertically in two) and a fretted neck (although sometimes without frets), with a sound hole or opening in the body (although sometimes without an opening)
lyre = a stringed musical instrument, similar to a small harp, although with a U-shaped frame with strings attached to a crossbar (especially known for its use in ancient Greece)
thee = (archaic) you
thine = (archaic) your; yours
thy = (archaic) your
warp = in the process of weaving fabric, threads that run passed lengthwise (vertically) down a loom (the frame upon which cloth is woven)
weft = in the process of weaving fabric, threads that are passed sideways (crosswise, horizontally) across (interlacing, over and under) the warp threads (threads that run lengthwise, vertically) on a loom (the frame upon which cloth is woven); yarn used for such a purpose
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