A spirited two-year-old
And unbroken horse;
Or as in a raging storm
A helmless ship is beaten;
Or as if the halt were set to catch
A reindeer in the thawing fell.[1]
91. Openly I now speak,
Because I both sexes know:
Unstable are men's minds toward women;
'Tis then we speak most fair,
When we most falsely think:
That deceives even the cautious.
92. Fair shall speak,
And money offer,
Who would obtain a woman's love
Praise the form
Of a fair damsel;
He gets, who courts her.
93. At love should no one
Ever wonder
In another:
A beauteous countenance
Oft captivates the wise,
Which captivates not the foolish.
94. Let no one wonder at
Another's folly,
It is the lot of many.
All-powerful desire
Makes of the sons of men
Fools even of the wise.
95. The mind only knows
What lies near the heart;
That alone is conscious of our affections
No disease is worse
To a sensible man
Than not to be content with himself.
- ↑ Such lines as this show the Norse origin of the Edda.
