Youth, untouched by melancholy,
Fair as the sun of Italy, —
Cling to thy delicious folly !
This is Wisdom ! Love of wine,
Beauty, and the spring divine, —
'Tis enough! Nought else is thine.
Smile in Destiny's stern face,
And when Spring fills every place,
Cast her roses in thy glass.
When thou liest 'neath the stone
What remaineth? This alone.
Love through hours of May to have known.
"Seek the source whence wisdom flows,"
Says the dreamer, cold, morose,
Words, words, words! Quick, pluck the rose!
Theodore de Banville (1823 - 1891) France
Translated by Lois Saunders
Source: Strangers and foreigners being translations from the French, Italian, German and Middle High German : done into English verse by Lois Saunders, Elkin Mathews, 1912
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