The
lyrics of the song are:
"What is a youth? Impetuous
fire.
What is a maid? Ice and desire.
The world wags on.
A rose will bloom
It then will fade
So does a youth.
So do-o-o-oes the fairest maid.
Comes a time when one sweet
smile
Has its season for a while...Then love's in love with me.
Some they
think only to marry, Others will tease and tarry,
Mine is the very best parry. Cupid
he rules us all.
Caper the cape, but sing me the song,
Death will come
soon to hush us along.
Sweeter than honey and bitter as gall.
Love is a
task and it never will pall.
Sweeter than honey...and bitter as gall
Cupid
he rules us all."
The song essentially
deals with the transitory nature of life. What the title specifically asks is,
"What is it being young?" The answer provided in the lyrics clearly states that
nothing endures forever. "Youth(fulness)" is
therefore temporary. Throughout the song there are references to the temporal
nature of things: roses bloom and eventually fade and so do young men and women -
they age and then pass on. Sweetness has its time and then goes. The reference to
death emphasises our impermanence.
The first few lines seem,
however, to suggest a contrast between 'youth' and 'maid' where the one refers to a boy and the
other a girl. The term, 'youth' had generally in the past been used to refer to the male gender.
The modern use of the word nowadays refers to all young people, such as the main characters in
the play. Be that as it may, the general idea is about young love.
Love, in
the form of Cupid "rules us all" and it "is a task" that will never
"pall". The song provides both a dramatic and romanticised perspective of love.
Love is a , it can be both bitter and sweet. The song fits in well with what the play presents:
that even a love as deep and passionate as that of our two 'star-crossed lovers' has an end,
whether through tragic circumstance or choice.
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