Page:Florian - The Fables, 1888.djvu/63

"To waste your time in such a way;
The greatest pleasure for a maid
Is to have lovers ev'ry day:
What song can e'er impart the bliss
The lover feels from one sweet kiss?"
To this the linnet warbl'd low:—
"I could not venture to compare
One with the other; but I know
How great the charms of music are:
             If these I have,
No other pleasure do I crave."
At this discourse, the dove in spite
Bade her adieu, and took to flight.

Years pass'd, ten long and weary years,
With all their checker'd hopes and fears,
When one fine day in spring the twain
Met in the same old grove again.
Great was the change they'd undergone,
       And long they stood and gaz'd,
             As if amaz'd
At looks so alter'd and forlorn.

At length the linnet silence broke,
And thus politely spoke:—
"Good morning, friend! How do you do?
And how are all those lovers too?"
"Ah! never mention them, my dear:
For I have lost them all, I fear:
Friends, lovers, youth, and pleasures—yea,
Everything has pass'd away.