HOPING for nothing, to walk through the streets,
This is a better fate than men believe,
Because you can behold the passing by
Of all the pretty girls there are....

Hoping for nothing, to sail life,
Is all the same well worth the while,
Because of sunny moments, which
It is indeed delight to feel pass by.

Would you perceive that you are very happy,
If you were happy longer than an hour?
Is it not better to have but the power
Of loving with your eyes,
But one poor moment nape, and eyes,
And the mystery that flees with pretty feet
Of all the pretty girls there are?

Come, life is willing to be borne!
Earth is not yet so cold and worn,
And the rare minutes are not yet so rare
In which you tell yourself that life is fair,
In which, quite simply, you begin to live,
In the cool grass, in the warm sand,
Or when your whole mind to the joy you give
Of gathering with eyes the passing by
Of all the pretty girls there are....

translated by Jethro Bithell