I linger on the threshold of my youth. br If you could see me now as then I was, br A fair--faced frightened boy with eyes of truth br Scared at the world yet angry at its laws, br Plotting all plots, a blushing Cataline br Betrayed by his own cheeks, a misanthrope br In love with all things human and divine, br The very fool of fortune and high hope, br You would deny you knew me.