If I possessed in the heavens the power which God
exercises there, I would destroy the people of this world,
and others I would make in my own way, so that man,
freed [from the bonds of superstition], could attain here
below the desires of his heart.
My poor heart, full of grief and folly, has not been
able to free itself from drunkenness where passion for
my well-beloved has plunged it. Oh! the day when the
wine of this love was distributed, my portion was, without
doubt, drawn from the blood of my heart!
To drink wine and seek beautiful faces is wiser than
to practise hypocrisy and apparent devotion. It is evident
that if there exist a Hell for lovers and drinkers,
no one would wish for Paradise.
Scorn the words of coquettish women, but accept limpid
wine from the hand of those whose mien is irreproachable.
You know that all those who have made their appearance
in this world are partly of one kind and partly
of the other, and it is not given to any to see a single
one that may come back.
It is not necessary to soften and disgrace a joyous heart
by sorrow, to break under the stones of torment our
moments of delight. As no one is able to tell what is
to be, what is necessary is some wine, a beloved mistress
[the Divinity], and repose according to our desires.