Ballads for the Times (Now first collected,) Geraldine, A Modern Pyramid, Bartenus, A Thousand Lines, and other poems. By Martin F. Tupper. A new Edition, enlarged and revised |
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The Song of Sixteen.
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 | Ballads for the Times |  |
The Song of Sixteen.
Who shall guess what I may be?
Who can tell my fortune to me?
For, bravest and brightest that ever was sung
May be—and shall be—the lot of the young!
Who can tell my fortune to me?
For, bravest and brightest that ever was sung
May be—and shall be—the lot of the young!
Hope, with her prizes and victories won,
Shines in the blaze of my morning sun,
Conquering Hope, with golden ray,
Blessing my landscape far away;
Shines in the blaze of my morning sun,
Conquering Hope, with golden ray,
Blessing my landscape far away;
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All my meadows and hills are green,
And rippling waters glance between,—
All my skies are rosy bright,
Laughing in triumph at yester-night:
And rippling waters glance between,—
All my skies are rosy bright,
Laughing in triumph at yester-night:
My heart, my heart within me swells,
Panting, and stirring its hundred wells;—
For youth is a noble seed, that springs
Into the flower of heroes and kings!
Panting, and stirring its hundred wells;—
For youth is a noble seed, that springs
Into the flower of heroes and kings!
Rich in the present, though poor in the past,
I yearn for the future, vague and vast;
And lo! what treasure of glorious things
Giant Futurity sheds from his wings;
I yearn for the future, vague and vast;
And lo! what treasure of glorious things
Giant Futurity sheds from his wings;
Pleasures are there, like dropping balms,
And glory and honour with chaplets and palms,
And mind well at ease, and gladness, and health,
A river of peace, and a mine of wealth!
And glory and honour with chaplets and palms,
And mind well at ease, and gladness, and health,
A river of peace, and a mine of wealth!
Away with your counsels, and hinder me not,—
On, on let me press to my brilliant lot;
Young and strong, and sanguine and free,
How knowest thou what I may be?
On, on let me press to my brilliant lot;
Young and strong, and sanguine and free,
How knowest thou what I may be?
| Ballads for the Times | |