OF SCHOONERS, ISLANDS AND MAROONS
Of Schooners, Islands and Maroons,
And Buccaneers and Buried Gold,
And Torches red and rising moons,
If all the old romance retold
Exactly in the ancient way,
Can please, as me they pleased of old,
The wiser youngsters of today—
So be it, and fall on! If not,—
If all the boys on better things
Have set their spirits and forgot—
So be it, and fall on! If not—
If all the boys on solid food
Have set their fancies, and forgot
Kingston and Ballantyne the brave
And Cooper of the land and wave,
So be it also; and may I
And my late-born piratic brood
Unread beside the ancients lie!
So be it and fall on! If not,—[1]
If studied youth no longer crave,—
Their ancients' appetites forgot,—
Kingston and Ballantyne the brave,
- ↑ The following eight lines were evidently intended by Stevenson as alternatives for the eight preceding lines.
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