Song of the Day - 19th June

Today's Song of the Day was actually written for the theme of "Becoming an Adult" but it works just as well for a summer occasion.

Entitled "When I Was Twenty", it tells the story of a man looking back at his youth (when he was twenty, strangely enough!) at one June day in particular, reminiscing about the carefree moments of his youth as he fell in love with the enchanting, "melting, wayward, wistful, shy" Madeline, before the demands of the "hurrying world" pulled him away. This poem is a wistful story of regret and missed opportunities, but it also caused me to learn the meaning of the Latin phrase Festina lente - make haste slowly.

It was written by William Bliss Carman FRSC (1861 – 1929) and first published in 1896 in the collection "More Songs From Vagabondia". Carman was a gifted Canadian poet who spent much of his life in the United States, where his talent blossomed into international acclaim. In his later years, he was celebrated as Canada's Poet Laureate, a testament to the lasting impact of his work.

When I Was Twenty

By Bliss Carman (William)

It was June, and I was twenty.

All my wisdom, poor but plenty,

Never learned Festina lente.

Youth is gone, but whither went he?

Madeline came down the orchard

With a mischief in her eye,

Half demure and half inviting,

Melting, wayward, wistful, shy.

Four bright eyes that found life lovely,

And forgot to wonder why;

Four warm lips at one love-lesson,

Learned by heart so easily.

We gained something of that knowledge

No man ever yet put by,

But his after days of sorrow

Left him nothing but to die.

Madeline went up the orchard,

Down the hurrying world went I;

Now I know love has no morrow,

Happiness no by-and-by.

Youth is gone, but whither went he?

All my wisdom, poor but plenty,

Never learned Festina lente.

It was June, and I was twenty.