If I were young as you, Sixteen, <br /> And you were old as I, <br />I would not be as I have been, <br /> You would not be so shy— <br />We should not watch with careless mien <br /> The golden days go by, <br />If I were young as you, Sixteen, <br /> And you were old as I. <br /> <br />The years of youth are yours, Sixteen; <br /> Such years of old had I, <br />But time has set his seal between <br /> Dark eyebrow and dark eye. <br />Sere grow the leaves that once were green, <br /> The song turns to a sigh: <br />Ah! very young are you, Sixteen, <br /> And very old am I. <br /> <br />Red bloom-times come and go, Sixteen, <br /> With snow-soft feet, but I <br />Shall be no more as I have been <br /> In times of bloom gone by; <br />For dimmer grows the pleasant scene <br /> Beneath the pleasant sky; <br />The world is growing old, Sixteen— <br /> The weary world and I. <br /> <br />Ah, would that once again, Sixteen, <br /> A kissing mouth had I; <br />The days would gaily go, I ween, <br /> Though death should stand anigh, <br />If springtime’s green were evergreen, <br /> If Love would never die, <br />And I were young as you, Sixteen, <br /> And you were old as I.<br /><br />Victor James Daley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/sixty-to-sixteen/
