THE PARTING

WE have come “the primrose way,”

Folly, thou and I!

Such a glamor and a grace

Ever glimmered on thy face,

Ever such a witchery

Lit the laughing eyes of thee,

Could a fool like me withstand

Folly's feast and beckoning hand?

Drinking, how thy lips’ caress

Spiced the cup of waywardness!

So we came “the primrose way,”

Folly, thou and I!

But now, Folly, we must part,

Folly, thou and I!

Shall one look with mirth or tears

Back on all his wasted years,

Purposes dissolved in wine,

Pearls flung to the heedless swine?—

Idle days and nights of mirth,

Were they pleasures nothing worth?

Well, there's no gainsaying we

Squandered youth right merrily!

But now, Folly, we must part,

Folly, thou and I!