Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

Robert Seymour Bridges 1844–1930

O Youth Whose Hope Is High

BridgesR

O YOUTH whose hope is high,

Who doth to truth aspire,

Whether thou live or die,

O look not back nor tire.

Thou that art bold to fly

Through tempest, flood and fire,

Nor dost not shrink to try

Thy heart in torments dire,—

If thou canst Death defy,

If thy Faith is entire,

Press onward, for thine eye

Shall see thy heart’s desire.

Beauty and love are nigh,

And with their deathless quire

Soon shall thine eager cry

Be number’d and expire.