LET young folk be blithe and gay, For young folk should take their fling; None should dare to bid them stay If they laugh, and dance, and sing, And are glad while yet they may. When a youthful maid doth wed One whose three score years are said, She her folly rues each day-- Let young folks be blithe and gay. This our prayer, kind Jesus, hear: Do Thou recompense the wrong That stern greybeards, too severe, Vent upon the blithe and young, Blaming them far more than right, God will then avenge their spite On the dreadful judgment day-- Let young folks be blithe and play. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...TO A SCREEN-MAKER by MARIANNE MOORE DEATH'S JEST-BOOK: SAILORS' [OR MARINERS'] SONG by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES MACFLECKNOE; OR, A SATIRE UPON THE TRUE-BLUE-PROTESTANT POET by JOHN DRYDEN INDIAN WOMAN'S DEATH-SONG by FELICIA DOROTHEA HEMANS SAMSON AGONISTES by JOHN MILTON LONGFELLOW by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY THE ETERNAL GOODNESS by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER |