THE RETURN OF THE GOLDEN AGE
(From the French of Le Président Hénault)
Wherefore that Golden Age regret
When love alone was Lord of all?
Let us love faithfully and yet
We may that Golden Age recall.
Let love resume his ancient reign,
The Golden Age returns again.
The flowers that in the fields are seen
Bloom brightly as they bloomed before,
The rose is still the garden's queen,
The birds sing as they sang of yore.
Let love resume, &c.
Still in the springtime Philomel
Renews her unforgotten strain;
The streams in happy murmurs tell
Of love and love's delightful pain.
Let love resume, &c.
Zephyr, filled with the ancient fire,
As eagerly doth Flora court;
The bee yet shews his old desire
With lilies in the mom to sport.
While love is present in the heart
The Golden Age can ne'er depart.