"THE SERIOUS, TOO, HAVE THEIR 'VIVE LA BAGATELLE.'"
Gay world! You may write on my heart what you will
If your laugh-shaken fingers but trace
The dream, or the jest, with that fairylike quill
That ciphers the wood-sorrel's vase!
Fair world! You may write on my heart what you will;
But write it with pencil, not pen:
You are fair, and have skill; but a hand fairer still
Soon whitens the tablet again!
Aubrey de Vere.