Whose baffling veil may ne'er be rent;
I only know, or rich or poor,
I hold in fief
Four square feet of the Orient.
I only know, or rich or poor,
I hold in fief
Four square feet of the Orient.
RAISON D'ÊTRE
WHAT matters the red of a laughing lip
If it go unkissed?
And where is the worth of small white hands
If a lover's clasp be missed?
If it go unkissed?
And where is the worth of small white hands
If a lover's clasp be missed?
Red lips may's well be pinched and pale
If fates are all unkind,
And small white hands go convent-sworn
If eyes of men be blind.
If fates are all unkind,
And small white hands go convent-sworn
If eyes of men be blind.
For beauty is hostage for sweets of life
Since time began to move,
And the raison d'être of living at all
Is ever and always love.
Since time began to move,
And the raison d'être of living at all
Is ever and always love.
ROSES
(VALENTINE SONG)
IT was just a rose I sent her,
Just a half-blown rose,
And the message that it carried
Everybody knows.
Just a half-blown rose,
And the message that it carried
Everybody knows.
29
