Poems (Argent)/To a Student
TO A STUDENT.
O STUDENT with the classic brow Filled overfull with ancient lore,Shut up your books, put pens away, And do not study anymore.
Tis such a glorious summer-day, No cloud upon the azure sky, A perfect radius of light Upon the earth and sea doth lie.
Come out upon the hill-side, then, The perfumed wind upon your checkShall make you strong, refill your brain With healthy ozone, so to speak.
For once let freedom be your guide, Unshackled by a wandering lookOf passionate longing for the sight Of printed page, or, ponderous book.
Or, if it be that you must learn Let Nature teach you what is wise,Look on her trees and waving woods, The solemn stillness of her skies.
Let not your eyes with lighted fires From high Olympus glower downOn us poor mortals that are tied To noisy street and smoky town.
But from the mountains of the gods Descend with footstep fast and free,Yet bring us if you will a tale From off the shores of Arcady!
With flute and harp and flageolet We'll sing you many a festive lay,And you will join our merry throng And turn from scholar grave to gay.
The wheat is like a sheet of gold All ready for the reaper's hand,The meadows green with greenest grass, The river, beautiful and grand.
Sure! Pan might pipe a dulcet tune, There are so many reeds to makeA magic music quaint and soft And olden memories to wake.
And in and out the tangled wood A dryad or a faun might run,Unknown to mortals it is true, And yet revealed perhaps to one.
So, student with the classic brow, Come quit your books, and take a sipFrom Nature's nectar, let it touch The curved lines around your lip.
The gods have had you long enough, To Pallas you must bid adieu,Come down to us and let us look For one brief month once more on you.
Your Plutarch and Euripides, With similar books of bygone date,Horace and Ovid, and a host Of others equally as great;
Abandon them awhile, and bid Farewell to sweet Athenae's shrine,And from the city of the gods Depart in peace, nor fret, nor pine.
Ere you should meet with further plight And fickle Cupid with his dartShould take a random aim and plant The fatal arrow in your heart!
Your academic gown put off Exchange it for a suit of grey,Come revel by the rippling brooks And throw scholastic cares away.
Forget the college and the dons, The world of school, each striving brainThat seeks for knowledge, let them pass And be a careless boy again.
Forget the toil, the grief, the strife, The battle for an honoured name,The hollowness of earthly pomp, The goal that leads through tears to fame.
Dear student! with your classic brow Filled overfull with ancient lore,Shut up your books, put pens away And do not study anymore!