II.

Pleasure just now indeed is quite the rage, No matter sex or station, rank or age. The child, we know, is tickled with a straw, The boy is happy with his hoop or taw; The girl at first with dolls enjoys a span, But, older grown, the doll becomes a man; And, in her quest for what can life enhance, She gives her time to flirting and the dance. Youth growing up assume a manly tone, And seem to think the world is all their own, And while at school imagine they are men, And take to smoking and to billiards then; At college, too, of classics seldom speak, Think more of Cricket than they do of Greek; Rowing and Football take up half their time, Lawn-tennis too is voted “quite sublime.” Thus time is spent in learning, it is true, But not in learning what they ought to do. Life is a game, so many people say, And they win easiest who have learned to play.