"Hist!" he said, "what next shall befall?

Draw not near, speak under your breath,

For all new-comers tell of death.

Bring me no song nor minstrelsy,

Round death it babbleth still," said he.

"And what is fame and the praise of men,

When lost life cometh not again?"

Whither away to seek good cheer?

"Ah me!" said the third, "that my love were anear!

Were the world as little as it is wide,