Who loved a friend, his like in every feature;
Once, as upon the ocean sailed the pair,
They chanced into a whirlpool unaware.
A fisherman made haste the first to save,
Ere his young life should meet a watery grave;
But crying from the raging surf, he said:
‘Leave me, and seize my comrade’s hand instead.’
E’en as he spoke the mortal swoon o’ertook him,
With that last utterance life and sense forsook him.
Learn not love’s temper from that shallow pate