A powerful mind ripens slowly in a vigorous frame, and Henry's childish precocity had given way before a youthful devotion to physical sports.

He was no prodigy of early development.
His intellect, will and character were of a gradual, healthier growth; they were not matured for many years after he came to the throne.

He was still in his eighteenth year; and like most young Englishmen of means and muscle, his interests centred rather in the field than in the study.

Youth sat on the prow and pleasure at the helm.

"Continual feasting" was the phrase in which Catherine described their early married life.