The Ballad Of Time

If all but age; if all but age,

All but youth and time

Threw more than a rage-

Thence, a muse were a sage

And love the perfect crime.

If all the world; all the world,

All the world could be-

Like a flower with petals curled

And enchantment as bewitching as to see.

If all the clouds, all the clouds,

All the air could come and woe;

Our livery would only be as proud

And shady as an oak row.

If men could be; could be,

But a moor where feelings persist;

Leaves were fleeter than the waves of the sea.

And largely, all shall cease to exist.