A WORD OF WISDOM
I
Love with all thy strength of being, while the summer days are long,
While thy heart can mix its music with the lark's and thrush's song;
While the heart of woman seeks thee for the sake of love alone,
While thine ardour wins her sweetness, lures her from her starry throne.
II
Love with all thy might of manhood, while the summer nights are sweet,
While the honeysuckle listens for the sound of lovers' feet;
While thy voice can ring with passion, while keen rapture can be won,
While there's magic in the moonlight, while there's splendour in the sun.
III
For the time is surely coming when the flowers will still arise,
When the rose will meet the sunshine glittering down from azure skies
With an undiminished joyance, when the laughter of the sea
Still will ring forth to the sea-bird, but no laugh will sound for thee.
IV
Yes: the time is surely coming when the sunrise with its gold
Will seem just a mocking glory, when the thrush will sing, “You're old!”
When the light in woman's glances will seem just a mocking gleam,
Saying, “Gaze at me and worship—think I love you—fools may dream.
V
“Fools may dream of love at fifty, or at sixty—let them know
Though they win the red-ripe beauty of young lips in fullest glow
They are loved not for their sweetness, they are loved for what they bring:
Woman loves not mankind's winter, though she maddens at his spring.”
