| HE who has once been happy is for aye | |
| Out of destruction's reach. His fortune then | |
| Holds nothing secret; and Eternity, | |
| Which is a mystery to other men, | |
| Has like a woman given him its joy. | 5 |
| Time is his conquest. Life, if it should fret. | |
| Has paid him tribute. He can bear to die, | |
| He who has once been happy! When I set | |
| The world before me and survey its range, | |
| Its mean ambitions, its scant fantasies, | 10 |
| The shreds of pleasure which for lack of change | |
| Men wrap around them and call happiness, | |
| The poor delights which are the tale and sum | |
| Of the world's courage in its martyrdom; | |
| |
| When I hear laughter from a tavern door, | 15 |
| When I see crowds agape and in the rain | |
| Watching on tiptoe and with stifled roar | |
| To see a rocket fired or a bull slain, | |
| When misers handle gold, when orators | |
| Touch strong men's hearts with glory till they weep, | 20 |
| When cities deck their streets for barren wars | |
| Which have laid waste their youth, and when I keep | |
| Calmly the count of my own life and see | |
| On what poor stuff my manhood's dreams were fed | |
| Till I too learn'd what dole of vanity | 25 |
| Will serve a human soul for daily bread, | |
| —Then I remember that I once was young | |
| And lived with Esther the world's gods among. | |
