I was ever a fighter, so-one fight more, The best and the last! I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore, No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life's arrears For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave, And the elements' rage, the fiend-voices that rave, Shall change, shall become first a peace, then a joy, O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again, YOUTH AND ART. 1. Ir once might have been, once only: 2. Your trade was with sticks and clay, You thumbed, thrust, patted and polished, Then laughed They will see some day Smith made, and Gibson demolished." 3. My business was song, song, song; I chirped, cheeped, trilled and twittered, "Kate Brown 's on the boards ere long, And Grisi's existence embittered!" 4. I earned no more by a warble You wanted a piece of marble, I needed a music-master. 5. We studied hard in our styles, Chipped each at a crust like Hindoos, For air, looked out on the tiles, For fun, watched each other's windows. 6. You lounged, like a boy of the South, Or you got it, rubbing your mouth With fingers the clay adhered to. |