Do I have to tell you anything about Charles Kingsley?
I expect not - as most of you will know that he was the Victorian writer of the classic children's story "The Water Babies"(1863), a kind of fairytale about a boy chimney-sweep.
Today's poem is taken from that work.
YOUNG AND OLD
from The Water Babies
When all the world is young, lad,
And all the trees are green;
And every goose a swan, lad,
And every lass a queen;
Then hey for boot and horse, lad,
And round the world away;
Young blood must have its course, lad,
And every dog his day.
When all the world is old, lad,
And all the trees are brown;
And all the sport is stale, lad,
And all the wheels run down:
Creep home and take your place there,
The spent and maimed among:
God grant you find one face there,
You loved when all was young.
Charles Kingsley
Walter De La Mare
The Listeners
"Is there anybody there?" said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;.....
It is said one should never go back..
Miller Williams
"Adjusting to the Light"
Lazarus, listen, we have things to tell you.
We killed the sheep you meant to take to market.
We couldn't keep the old dog, either.
He minded you. The rest of us he barked at.
Rebecca, who cried two days, has given her hand
to the sandalmaker's son. Please understand
we didn't know that Jesus could do this.
We're glad you're back. But give us time to think.
Imagine our surprise...We want to say
we're sorry for all that. And one thing more.
We threw away the lyre. But listen, we'll pay
whatever the sheep was worth. The dog, too.
And put your room the way it was before.
Things cannot be put back the way they were before. And only the very optimistic should dare to go back.
Thank you for your 'food for thought' today. Charlotte