These two posts quote William Wordsworth writing something similar to a remark that Poul Anderson's Peter Berg makes in "The Problem of Pain":
"'Oh, it was a wonderful thing to be young in that band!'
"He had not yet reached thirty, but somehow his cry was not funny." (p. 33)
Berg refers to a time when he shared the Ythrians' sense of adventure (see also here) while exploring a planet with them. He aged suddenly as a result of that experience.
When I was at University in the 1970s, a student addressing a meeting while enthusing about the then Portuguese Revolution said that he knew how Wordsworth felt but kept misquoting him, ending with:
"It was bliss to be alive in that very dawn!"
A better read student kept wincing and covering his face. I remember the incident with amusement.
"To be young" is a major literary theme. See here.
6 comments:
Every generation thinks it invented sex, and idealistic enthusiasm...
Paul:
"Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing."
— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Memorial Day (30 May 1884) speech, concerning Union Army service in the American Civil War
I'd thought it was Holmes who, in his nineties, remarked that the sight of a beautiful woman made him wish he was seventy again. I wasn't able to find any citation for that line, though.
In our bailiwick, some Young Turks, younger than my granddaughter, are making energetic contributions to the General Election campaign so we have to give them their head.
Kaor, Paul!
I don't necessarily agree with you. If those "Young Turks" are advocating ideas and supporting candidates I believe would be disastrous, I would oppose them!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
I speak from a partisan view.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
In the UK I would almost certainly support the Conservatives and be just as partisan! And not one of those squishy "wet" Tories!
Ad astra! Sean
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