Poems (Henley)/Ballade of Youth and Age

by William Ernest Henley

BALLADE (DOUBLE REFRAIN) OF YOUTH AND AGE I. M. Thomas Edward Brown (1829-1896)

Spring at her height on a morn at prime,Sails that laugh from a flying squall,Pomp of harmony, rapture of rhyme—Youth is the sign of them, one and all.Winter sunsets and leaves that fall,An empty flagon, a folded page,A tumble-down wheel, a tattered ball—These are a type of the world of Age.

Bells that clash in a gaudy chime,Swords that clatter in onsets tall,The words that ring and the fames that climb—Youth is the sign of them, one and all.Hymnals old in a dusty stall,A bald, blind bird in a crazy cage,The scene of a faded festival—These are a type of the world of Age.

Hours that strut as the heirs of time,Deeds whose rumour's a clarion-call,Songs where the singers their souls sublime—Youth is the sign of them, one and all.A staff that rests in a nook of wall,A reeling battle, a rusted gage,The chant of a nearing funeral—These are a type of the world of Age.

Envoy

Struggle and turmoil, revel and brawl—Youth is the sign of them, one and all.A smouldering hearth and a silent stage—These are a type of the world of Age.