1. They cried out when they saw the parting of my hair
White as if greyness there was unorthodox for me.

2. And they said, "We knew him when youth's mantle
Of finest gauze he wore unmarred in its making."

3. Never did I espy in him a fault to reprove him for,
And love for hearts was native to his nature.

4. And they said, "A boy whose head grey hair made beautiful!"
So fie on the head made fair by greyness and decay!

5. The loves forgot him after the ardour of passion subsided,
And how far is the wind-blown trace from the camp!

6. And they were wont to rend the bosoms when he appeared,
Then busied themselves patching up the rents when he was gone.