Note how the zephyrs have made the roses bloom!
Note how their fragrant beauty glads the nightingale!
Go, then, repose in the shadow of these flowers, for
very speedily they depart from the earth and very often
ne'er return again.
Behold us re-united in the midst of lovers; behold us
freed from the pain which time inflicts; having emptied
the cup of His love, behold us all free, all tranquil, all
o'ercome with wine.
Suppose that you have lived in this world in accordance
with your desires; ah, well! after that? Think to
yourself that the end of your days has arrived; ah, well!
after that? Admitting that you have lived for a hundred
years surrounded by all that your heart could desire,
imagine in your turn, that you have another hundred
years to live; ah, well! after that?
Do you know how the cypress and the lily have acquired
the name for freedom which they enjoy among men?
It is because one has ten tongues but remains mute, and
the other possesses a hundred hands and keeps them all
empty.
O cupbearer! put into my hand some of that delicious
wine, some of that juice attractive as a charming idol,
some of that nectar, in short, which like a chain whose
links, turning and returning upon each other, hold fools
and sages alike in sweet captivity.