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Saturday 14 May 2016

Saturday Rave: Youth and Love by John Gay

I could probably think of some weighty reason for featuring John Gay's song today, but really it's just in the hope of spreading a little light-heartedness.

Youth and Love

Youth's the season made for joys,
Love is then our duty,
She alone who that employs,
Well deserves her beauty.
Let's be gay
While we may,
Beauty's a flower despised in decay.

Let us drink and sport today.
Ours is not to-morrow.
Love with Youth flies swift away,
Age is naught but sorrow.
Dance and sing,
Time's on the wing,
Life never knows the return of spring.

On reflection, though, if I'm trying to spread light-heartedness then I ought to add that Age is not naught but sorrow - and if the Spring of life involves studying The Good Soldier, which in my case it did, then those hours, at least, gave precious few opportunities for love, gaiety, dancing or singing.

Word To Use Today: gay. This word comes from the Old French gai. It might originally have been something to do with the Old High German wahi, which means pretty.



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