 | A Woman's Reliquary |  |
39
LXX
WISE FOOLISHNESS
I posed you with Athene's spear,
A virgin warrior, fancy-free;
How could I then divine that dear
And deep irrationality?
A virgin warrior, fancy-free;
How could I then divine that dear
And deep irrationality?
Fools both: you spendthrift in desire
So poor a man as me to bless,
And I who at my altar-fire
Sang hyms to Wisdom's patroness.
So poor a man as me to bless,
And I who at my altar-fire
Sang hyms to Wisdom's patroness.
Ah! and how swift time plies the wing;
Here sit we Doctors in Love's school;
So learned we know the wisest thing
On earth is to have play'd the fool.
Here sit we Doctors in Love's school;
So learned we know the wisest thing
On earth is to have play'd the fool.
O wise dear foolishness! Such lore
We grey-hair'd sages try to preach
To youngsters now, Nay, let's give o'er,
Our rede to them is foreign speech.
We grey-hair'd sages try to preach
To youngsters now, Nay, let's give o'er,
Our rede to them is foreign speech.
| A Woman's Reliquary | |