Ballade Of Youth And Age
William Ernest Henley 1849 (Gloucester) – 1903 (Woking)
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.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 27, 2023
- 1:06 min read
- 116 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | abaBbcbC abaBbcdC abaBbcdC bBcC |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 1,045 |
Words | 219 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 4 |
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"Ballade Of Youth And Age" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/40448/ballade-of-youth-and-age>.
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