quote · Legacy record
Hold, Time, a little while thy glass, And, Youth, fold up those peacock wings! More rapture fills the years that pass Than any hope the future brings; Some for to-morrow rashly pray, And some desire to hold to-day. But I am sick for yesterday.... Ah! who will give us back the past? Ah! woe, that youth should love to be Like this swift Thames that speeds so fast, And is so fain to find the sea,— That leaves this maze of shadow and sleep, These creeks down which blown blossoms creep, For breakers of the homeless deep.
Hold, Time, a little while thy glass, And, Youth, fold up those peacock wings! More rapture fills the years that pass Than any hope the future brings; Some for to-morrow rashly pray, And some desire to hold to-day. But I am sick for yesterday.... Ah! who will give us back the past? Ah! woe, that youth should love to be Like this swift Thames that speeds so fast, And is so fain to find the sea,— That leaves this maze of shadow and sleep, These creeks down which blown blossoms creep, For breakers of the homeless deep.
In print by 1921 AD · modern
Recorded in a printed collection by this date; the original date of these words is still unknown.
Meaning not yet available
An individual explanation has not yet been added. We do not substitute a generic description for an interpretation of these particular words.
Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Edmund Gosse (identity unresolved)
Attribution: unknown - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- In print by 1921 AD · modern
In print by 1921: recorded in My Commonplace Book (third English edition,1921). Collection publication is an upper bound for this wording, not its earliest origin, composition date or the author's lifetime.
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- My Commonplace Book (third English edition,1921) (1921 AD)
Page 333 · printed citation: Edmund Gosse (Desiderium). · compiler notes excluded
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.