TO A YOUTH—1872
The "youth" to whom this poem was written, probably in 1872, was almost certainly Stevenson's cousin "Bob," who was later to become noted in fields of art and art criticism. Robert Louis and Robert Alan Stevenson had much in common, both in taste and temperament; and of his elder cousin, Stevenson, in a letter to Sidney Colvin, written in January 1874, said: "He has all the same elements of character that I have: no two people were ever more alike, only that the world has gone more unfortunately for him, although more evenly." The two cousins exchanged verses, counsels and encouragement; and the present poem shows the younger and more famous of the pair offering his friend a message of cheer, based on the philosophy of the all-sufficing value of courageous endeavor.
TO A YOUTH
See, with strong heart O youth, the change
Of mood and season in thy breast.
The intrepid soul that dares the wider range
Shall find securer rest.
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