So daring you are bound to seem
To eyes that the world have seen
No tiredness can be greater than yours
With such a flock of crowns before
Little have you ever bothered to discern
Trivialities such as a foreign concern
Should you ever resist the urging desire
Of having it all yesterday, that I will admire
You are said to bend the laws of nature with skill
Who else could turn into child or adult at will?
But not even you will manage to escape
From what you ridicule in others, your own fate
However imperfect you may seem
Not few people are bound to sin
Envy drives them when they claim
Oh my lord, If only I were a teen again!
To begin with I should apologize for daring to publish these lines. As you may suspect I am not familiar with poetry, not to mention English poetry. This unfamiliarity stems from respect, not from contempt. That is, I have never devoted to poetry the time that it deserves to get familiar with.
Anyway, I will continue to clarify the meaning of the poem: It speaks about youth, about how some adults, in spite of finding quite annoying young people sometimes, would give anything to be again like those whom they critizice so hard.
First verse. As the Spanish saying goes: how daring is ignorance. And who can better appreciate the lack of knowledge than an experienced and wise person? Adults are supposed to be wiser, or at least more experienced than youngsters, who are perceived as daring.
The second part refers to the action of despising. Sometimes teens are said to look down on people, to be unable to value their qualities. Thus, when you are literally looking down on people the most visible part of their body is the crown, which when seen repeatedly must be very tiring indeed.
Second verse. It reflects the lack of empathy that is said to be characteristic of teenagers. A foreign concern is something that worries another person.
The last half of the verse makes reference to impatience, the incapability to wait, the urge to possess everything immediately.
Third verse. It depicts the fact that, depending on the circumstances, teens are willing to be treated as kids or as adults.
As for the second part, it describes how teens sometimes mock adults with cruelty ignoring the fact that those things they find ridicule will probably characterize them in the future.
Fourth verse. Here it is made clear how adults, in spite of regarding teenagers as pretty imperfect, envy them, which could be considered as a sin, and would jump at the opportunity of becoming young again if the opportunity presented itself.
