I'm currently reading Kim by Rudyard Kipling. The first time I read it I fell in love with the old Lama and I'm still in love. I've read this book maybe 3 or 4 times and every time is a pleasure.

Part of its beauty is the way it evokes my memories of India. The sights, sounds, the rhythm of the language, the interaction of the various people; I can even smell the ghee and the incense again, feel the dust on my sandals.

I don't have any reason to be reading it; just for the sheer pleasure of it. And to meet my beloved old Lama again, clicking his rosary and looking for his River. I loved him when I was young; I still love him with the passion of youth remembered.

When I was young and easy in the mercy of his means, time held me green and dying, though I sang in my chains like the sea. That's almost from an Irish poet; does anyone recognize it? What's the exact quote?