Streets, and Other Verses

by Douglas Goldring

And I forgot lost love, in pleasant places,

For I found other heavens, and sweeter faces

Smiled from the lake, or laughed behind the reeds;

—But in the night the heart that’s stricken bleeds.

Then once at dawn-time, by a quiet pool,

A goat-legged fellow cried: “Come hither, fool,

And learn the tune that makes the world roll round:

Life, lust and laughter mingle in the sound:

’Twas made with longing and with tears and fire,

But laughter conquered it, and mocked desire.”