The Fountain of Youth

The Fountain of Youth  
J. Wm. Lloyd (1899)  
  
THE years roll on, and the head grows grey,
But the longing heart doth ever pray,
With a prayer too deep for words to say.

Love is the fountain of youth alway.

“Thou art old!” mocks Love, “and hast had thy day.”
But the heart protesteth:
“Nay, O nay!
My life is love, alway, alway,
And the human heart is young for aye.”

  Love is a fountain of youth alway.

“Thou art old,” saith Love, “and thy debt must pay.”
But the heart makes answer:
“Nay, O nay!
My hunger groweth every day,
Grows stronger with eating the years away;
Age is for earnest and youth for play,
The hottest coals ’neath the ashes stay,
And the human heart is young for aye.”

Love is the fountain of youth alway.