Ah, fading joy, how quickly art thou past!
Yet we thy ruin haste.
We seek out new:
And follow fate, which would too fast pursue.
See how on every bough the birds express
In their sweet notes their happiness.
They all enjoy and nothing spare;
Why then should man, the lord of all below,
Such troubles choose to know
As none of all his subjects undergo?
Hark, hark, the waters fall, fall, fall,
And with a murmuring sound
Dash, dash upon the ground,
To gentle slumbers call.
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