Spring at her height on a morn at prime, <br />Sails that laugh from a flying squall, <br />Pomp of harmony, rapture of rhyme - <br />Youth is the sign of them, one and all. <br />Winter sunsets and leaves that fall, <br />An empty flagon, a folded page, <br />A tumble-down wheel, a tattered ball - <br />These are a type of the world of Age. <br /> <br />Bells that clash in a gaudy chime, <br />Swords that clatter in onsets tall, <br />The words that ring and the fames that climb - <br />Youth is the sign of them, one and all. <br />Hymnals old in a dusty stall, <br />A bald, blind bird in a crazy cage, <br />The scene of a faded festival - <br />These are a type of the world of Age. <br /> <br />Hours that strut as the heirs of time, <br />Deeds whose rumour's a clarion-call, <br />Songs where the singers their souls sublime - <br />Youth is the sign of them, one and all. <br />A staff that rests in a nook of wall, <br />A reeling battle, a rusted gage, <br />The chant of a nearing funeral - <br />These are a type of the world of Age. <br /> <br />Envoy <br /> <br />Struggle and turmoil, revel and brawl - <br />Youth is the sign of them, one and all. <br />A smouldering hearth and a silent stage - <br />These are a type of the world of Age.<br /><br />William Ernest Henley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/ballade-of-youth-and-age/
