William Ernest Henley (Уильям Эрнст Хенли)

Ballade 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.

1. In Hospital. 12. Etching
2. In Hospital. 18. Children: Private Ward
3. Echoes. 14. The Wan Sun Westers, Faint and Slow
4. Rhymes and Rhythms. 23. Here They Trysted, Here They Strayed
5. Rhymes and Rhythms. 21. When the Wind Storms by with a Shout, and the Stern Sea-Caves

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