Page:Florian - The Fables, 1888.djvu/64

58 To love and please was all my thought; But what delusion it has brought! I still love on, just as before, But then I'm lov'd in turn no more."

"I'm not so badly off as you," The linnet said; "for though 'tis true I'm growing old, with loss of voice, Yet still in music I rejoice, And when with her wild magic trills The nightingale the forest fills, Beguiling all the weary night, Her sweet song fills me with delight."

Though beauty is a gift divine, Yet its possession may not bless; Its charms with merit must combine To prove a source of happiness: It fades away, While talents stay And please e'en when our own decay.