A Moral Alphabet/Y for Youth

by Hilaire Belloc

Y STANDS FOR YOUTH

(it would have stood for Yak,

But that I wrote about him two years back).

Youth is the pleasant springtime of our days,

As Dante so mellifluously says

(Who always speaks of Youth with proper praise).

You have not got to Youth, but when you do

You'll find what He and I have said is true.

MORAL:

Youth's excellence should teach the Modern Wit

First to be Young, and then to boast of it.