Youth

Youth, sweet comrade

Youth, wouldst thou be gone?

Long have we dwelt together, thou and I;

Together drunk of many an alien dawn,

And plucked the fruit of many an alien sky.

Wouldst thou be gone?

Ah, fickle friend, must I, who yesterday

Dreamed forward to long undimmed ecstasy,

Henceforward dream,

Because thou wilt not stay,

Backward to transient pleasures and to thee?

I give thee back they false, ephemeral vow;

But, O beloved comrade, ere we part,

Kiss me, kiss me,

Who hold thine image in my heart.