YOUTH.
Youth! glorious youth! how deeply blue the skies.
How green the earth where'er thou art to thee!
A halo round thy brow Time's hate defies,
Ever a rainbow's promise cheers thy heart.
Cool are thy streams—melodious are thy numbers;
Thy smile speaks of the heart's undying truth;
Troops of bright angels guard thy nightly slumbers,
When weariness the drooping soul encumbers,—
Oh, rare and radiant youth!
How green the earth where'er thou art to thee!
A halo round thy brow Time's hate defies,
Ever a rainbow's promise cheers thy heart.
Cool are thy streams—melodious are thy numbers;
Thy smile speaks of the heart's undying truth;
Troops of bright angels guard thy nightly slumbers,
When weariness the drooping soul encumbers,—
Oh, rare and radiant youth!
Give from thy bower some amaranthine blossom,
Whose fadeless leaves will bloom around my brow,
When dreary time hath stolen from my bosom
All the glad hopes that sing within it now;
Give me an eye that sees a heart that heareth
The generous language from the lips of truth;
One that no doubt dismays, that no harm feareth,
And even in storms a summer-garment weareth,—
Oh, brave and trustful youth!
Whose fadeless leaves will bloom around my brow,
When dreary time hath stolen from my bosom
All the glad hopes that sing within it now;
Give me an eye that sees a heart that heareth
The generous language from the lips of truth;
One that no doubt dismays, that no harm feareth,
And even in storms a summer-garment weareth,—
Oh, brave and trustful youth!
