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A Young Man's Exhortation

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Call off your eyes from care     By some determined deftness; put forth joys     Dear as excess without the core that cloys,     And charm Life's lourings fair.     Exalt and crown the hour     That girdles us, and fill it full with glee,     Blind glee, excelling aught could ever be     Were heedfulness in power.     Send up such touching strains     That limitless recruits from Fancy's pack     Shall rush upon your tongue, and tender back     All that your soul contains.     For what do we know best?     That a fresh love-leaf crumpled soon will dry,     And that men moment after moment die,     Of all scope dispossest.     If I have seen one thing     It is the passing preciousness of dreams;     That aspects are within us; and who seems     Most kingly is the King.     1867: WESTBOURNE PARK VILLAS.

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"Call off your eyes from care..."

"A Young Man's Exhortation" is a quintessential example of Thomas Hardy's signature style... ### Why We Love This Line At Linespedia, we believe that poetry is the ultimate sanctuary for the soul...

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