 | Musa Verticordia |  |
36
THE RETREAT
TO I. ALBENIZ
I live no more in the outer world; for me
The rose is faded and the wine-cup dry:
Not that I fall to vainer apathy,
Nor sated with false pleasures vainly sigh;
The rose is faded and the wine-cup dry:
Not that I fall to vainer apathy,
Nor sated with false pleasures vainly sigh;
But having proved the world in all its ways,
With sense, with dignity, nor fond nor mad,
I find not there a single thing to praise,
No, nor a single thing to make me glad.
With sense, with dignity, nor fond nor mad,
I find not there a single thing to praise,
No, nor a single thing to make me glad.
A staggering drunken animal I see,
Careering o'er bare mountains and bare plains,
Intent upon its own absurdity,
And loving pleasure only for its pains;
Careering o'er bare mountains and bare plains,
Intent upon its own absurdity,
And loving pleasure only for its pains;
37
That is the World; ah, friend, let us retire
Into the spacious chamber of our mind,
To sit and talk before the cosy fire
And listen to the winter, wailing wind!
Into the spacious chamber of our mind,
To sit and talk before the cosy fire
And listen to the winter, wailing wind!
| Musa Verticordia | |