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Act I.]
Love's Comedy.
289
Falk.
I will live in song and gladness,—
Then, when every bloom is shed,
Sweep together, scarce in sadness,
All that glory, wan and dead:
Fling the gates wide! Bruise and batter,
Tear and trample, hoof and tusk;
I have plucked the flower, what matter
Who devours the withered husk!
Chorus.
I have plucked the flower, etc.
[They clink and empty their glasses.
Falk [to the ladies].
There—that's the song you asked me for; but pray
Be lenient to it—I can't think to-day.
Guldstad.
Oh, never mind the sense—the sound's the thing.
Miss Jay [looking round].
But Svanhild, who was eagerest to hear—?
When Falk began, she suddenly took wing
And vanished—
Anna [pointing towards the back].
No, for there she sits—I see her.
