LOVE SONG

Love‘ s, for Youth, and not for Age,

E'en though Age should wear a crown;

For the Poet, not the Sage;

Not the Monarch, but the Clown.

Love‘ s for Peace, and not for War,

E'en though War bring all renown;

For the Violet, not the Star;

For the Meadow, not the Town.

Love‘ s for lads and Love‘ s for maids,

Courts a smile and flees a frown;

Love‘ s for Love, and saucy jades

Love Love most when Love has flown.

Love a cruel tyrant is:

Slays his victims with a glance,

Straight recovers with a kiss,

But to slay again, perchance.

Wouldst thou know where Love doth bide?

Whence his sharpest arrows fly?

In a dimple Love may hide,

Or the ambush of an eye.

Wert thou clad in triple mail,

In some desert far apart,

Not a whit would this avail:

Love would find and pierce thy heart.