The complete poetical works of Thomas Hood Edited, with notes by Walter Jerrold |
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THE SWEETS OF YOUTH |
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 | The complete poetical works of Thomas Hood |  |
436
THE SWEETS OF YOUTH
‘Sweets to the sweet—farewell.’
—Hamlet.
Time was I liked a cheesecake well enough;
All human children have a sweetish taste—
I used to revel in a pie, or puff,
Or tart—we all were tartars in our youth;
To meet with jam or jelly was good luck,
All candies most complacently I crumped,
A stick of liquorice was good to suck,
And sugar was as often liked as lumped;
On treacle's ‘linkèd sweetness long drawn out,’
Or honey, I could feast like any fly,
I thrilled when lollipops were hawk'd about,
How pleased to compass hard bake or bull's eye,
How charmed if fortune in my power cast
Elecampane—but that campaign is past!
| The complete poetical works of Thomas Hood | |