That were a boisterous household,
Landpests and soldiery!
And in thy little heart, dear,
The goodliest quarters be.
LXXVII.
I, too, in my youth did languish,
Suffered many a bitter anguish,
Burning in love's spell.
Now the price of fuel's higher,
And extinguished is the fire,
Ma foi! and that is well.
Think of this, my youthful beauty,
Dry the stupid tears of duty,
Quell love's stupid, vague alarms.
Since thy life is not yet over,
Oh forget thy former lover,
Ma foi! within mine arms.
LXXVIII.
Dost thou hate me then so fiercely,
Hast thou really changed so blindly?
To the world I shall proclaim it,
Thou could'st treat me so unkindly.
Say, ungrateful lips, how can you
Breathe an evil word of scorning,
Of the very man who kissed you
So sincerely, yestermorning?
LXXIX.
Yes, they are the self-same eyes
That still brighten as I greet her,
Yes, they are the self-same lips
That made all my life seem sweeter.
Yes, it is the very voice,
At whose slightest tones I faltered
But no more the same am I;
I wend homeward strangely altered.