Think No More, Lad by Alfred Edward Housman

Think no more, lad; laugh, be jolly:
Why should men make haste to die?
Empty heads and tongues a-talking
Make the rough road easy walking,
And the feather pate of folly
Bears the falling sky.

Oh, 'tis jesting, dancing, drinking
Spins the heavy world around.
If young hearts were not so clever,
Oh, they would be young for ever:
Think no more; 'tis only thinking
Lays lads underground.

More from Alfred Edward Housman:

• Farewell To Barn And Stack And Tree
• When I Was One-And-Twenty
• Loveliest Of Trees, The Cherry Now
• The Carpenter’s Son
• Along The Field As We Came By
• Be Still, My Soul, Be Still