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Home  »  The Oxford Shakespeare  »  The Passionate Pilgrim XII

William Shakespeare (1564–1616). The Oxford Shakespeare: Poems. 1914.

“Crabbed age and youth cannot live together”

The Passionate Pilgrim XII

CRABBED age and youth cannot live together:  
Youth is full of pleasure, age is full of care;  
Youth like summer morn, age like winter weather;  
Youth like summer brave, age like winter bare.  
Youth is full of sport, age’s breath is short;          5
  Youth is nimble, age is lame;  
Youth is hot and bold, age is weak and cold;  
  Youth is wild, and age is tame.  
Age, I do abhor thee, youth, I do adore thee;  
  O! my love, my love is young:   10
Age, I do defy thee: O! sweet shepherd, hie thee,  
  For methinks thou stay’st too long.