““Men sometimes come and question me How many years my age may be, Seeing my temples silver now And flecks of snow upon my brow. This is the answer that I give "When I count up the life I live Applying all my reason's power, I make the total just one hour." "And how", my questioner replies In accents of amazed surprise, "Mak'st thou this sum, which seems to me Beyond all credibility?" "One day", I answer," she I love All other earthly things above Lay in my arms, and like a thought Her lips with mine I swiftly sought. "And though the years before I die Stretch out interminably, I Shall only count my life in truth As that brief hour of happy youth." -””