Time, You Old Gipsy Man!-Ralph Hodgson

TIME, YOU OLD GIPSY MAN!

Time, you old gipsy man,

Will you not stay,

Put up your caravan

Just for one day?


All things I'll give you,

Will you be my guest,

Bells for your jennet

Of silver the best.


Goldsmiths shall beat you

A great golden ring,

Peacocks shall bow to you,

Little boys sing.


Oh, and sweet girls will

Festoon you with may,

Time, you old gipsy;

Why hasten away?


RALPH HODGSON


Summary: 'Time, You Old Gipsy Man!' is a poem by Ralph Hodgson that addresses time as if it were an old gipsy man. The speaker pleads with time to stay for just one day and offers to give him all things, including bells of silver for his jennet and a great golden ring. The speaker imagines peacocks bowing to time and little boys singing for him. He even suggests that sweet girls would festoon him with may, a traditional celebration of the arrival of spring. Despite all these tempting offers, time is depicted as a relentless traveler who must continue on his journey. The poem speaks to the fleeting nature of time and the human desire to hold on to moments that inevitably slip away.

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