University of Virginia Library

MY BALD HEAD.

(Mes cheveux.)

BÉRANGER.

I.

Good friends, pray listen, if you please,
To Pleasure's licensed preacher;
Hold fast to Liberty and Ease;
So says your reverend teacher.
To laugh at Care, be gay and free,
The precepts I advise:
I'm bald because I'm sage, you see;
So listen to the wise!

II.

Good friends, when Care assails a man,
To vex his soul and body,
I think it much the wisest plan
To drown it—in a toddy!
Nay, not too much!—the glass should be
Of very dainty size:
I'm bald because I'm sage, you see;
So listen to the wise!

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III.

Good friends, these hints will stand the test,
And should n't be neglected;
But what 's the good of all the rest,
If Beauty is rejected?
Young Love, true Love, must ever be
The richest earthly prize:
I'm bald because I'm sage, you see;
So listen to the wise!

IV.

Good friends, believe me, only so
We save Life's truest treasures;
By just condensing, as they flow,
Youth's evanescent pleasures.
My sermon's done; who lists to me
The power of Fate defies:
I'm bald because I'm sage, you see;
So listen to the wise!