Classic Poem

" BELIEVE me, if at your age I had known,
As well as I know now, the game of Love,
It had been well. I had great beauty then,
But now, when I survey my worn-out face
And see its wrinkles, I but sigh and groan;
For I recall my former loveliness,
Which then so agitated all the swains,
And how I led them such a merry chase
That 'twas no wonder that they felt Love's wounds.
Then had my beauty such a great renown
Throughout the land that there was such a crowd
Within my house as ne'er was seen before.
Much knocking at my door each eve was heard,
Which went unanswered when I, hard of heart,
Oft found it inconvenient to admit
Another, when already company
I had. That started trouble more than once,
On which account most angry I became.
Often the riot even broke my door.
And ere the combatants would separate
They sometimes lost their limbs and even lives.
Envy and hatred made the contests worse.
If master Algus, best of reckoners,
Had cared to come with his ten numerals,
With which he numbers and computes all things,
However much he deigned to multiply,
He could not calculate the total sum
Of those great conflicts. Though I then was strong
And lively, and in silver sterlings had
A thousand pounds more than I now possess,
I managed my affairs most wretchedly.
" I was a fair, young, silly fool; and had
No training in the school of Love, where's taught
The theory. The practice well I knew;
Throughout my life I've had experience
That's made me wise, so now I know the game
Up to the final bout. It were not right
That I should fail to teach you what I know,
Since I have made so much experiment.
He who to young folk counsel gives does well.
It is no wonder that you know of it
Less than a quarter of an ell, for you
Have yet a yellow beak; you're still unfledged,
While I have graduated from my course
And know the science to the very end;
I could uphold a lectureship on love.
The lore of age should not be shunned or scorned;
In it experience and sense one finds.
Full many a man has found that in the end,
However much he may have paid for it,
He's gained but judgment and experience.
" When once, with no small labor, I'd achieved
Some wit and practice, many a valiant man
Who fell into my snares I fooled and held;
I was deceived, upon the other hand,
Before I ever learned to know myself.
Grievous misfortune 'twas I learned so late!
For by that time I was beyond my youth;
My door, that once oft opened, night and day,
Now ever to its threshold closely clung.
" No one has come today or yesterday;
Alas, poor wretch, in sorrow I must live,"
Was then my thought. My heart was cleft with grief.
When thus I saw my door so idly hang —
And I myself as idle all the while —
I could not stand the shame, and wished to leave.
How could I stay to see those handsome swains,
Who formerly had been my dearest guests,
Who loved me so they thought they ne'er could leave,
Now pass me by and look at me askance?
E'en those who once had loved me most would skip
Me by as though I were not worth an egg.
They called me " wrinkled crone," and even worse,
Before they had beyond my hearing passed.
" My gentle friend, no one, however wise,
However schooled in grief, could understand
What dolor held my heart when I recalled
The lovely words, the sweet felicity,
The soft delights, the kisses savory,
Embraces more delightful than all else,
Which flew away so fast. Did I say flew?
'Tis true; they did, and never to return!
I'd better been imprisoned in a tower
Forever than to have been so early born.
God! To what care brought me those same fair gifts
When they deserted me! And what was left
Of them, what torment did it cause to me!
Unfortunate, why were you born so soon?
" Thus I complain; and is there one but you,
Whom I so dearly love, to hear my plaint?
How otherwise can I revenge myself
Except by teaching you my principles?
Fair son, my tutelage is to this end:
That, when you shall be learned, you shall take
Vengeance for me upon the whoremongers;
For when that time shall come, so may God please,
You will remember all my sermoning
Which you'll retain by reason of your age
That gives you great advantage to this end.
For Plato says, " It is a well-known fact
That more retentive is the memory
Of things it learns in youth, whatever be
The nature of the learning that it gains."
" Certainly, dearest son, beloved youth,
If I were young like you, no pen could write
The vengeance I would take upon my foes.
Wherever I might come, I'd miracles,
The like of which were never heard before,
Perform upon those ribalds who despised
And slandered me, and of so little worth
Considered me that basely they passed by,
Vying with one another in their pride,
And giving me no pity or reprieve.
Do you know what I'd do to them, now God
Has given me the lore of which I spoke?
I'd eat them out of house and home, and press
Upon them so their faults and errancies
That they would come to be the food of worms
And lie all naked on manure piles,
Especially the ones who loved me first,
With loyal hearts, they said, and took such pains
Most willingly to serve and honor me.
If I were able, there should not remain
To them what might be worth a garlic clove
That I'd not have within my purse, and they
Should all be left in cruel poverty;
Stamping in lively rage they'd follow me.
" Regrets are vain; what's gone is not to come.
What do they care for all the threats I make?
My wrinkled face has now no hold on them;
And long ago the ribalds told me so
When first their love to detestation turned.
Then could I naught but weep; I now rejoice;
When musing on the past that is no more,
I am delighted with my thoughts; my limbs
New vigor feel when good times I recall,
And all the jolly life that pleased my heart.
Rejuvenated all my body seems
When recollections come into my mind.
When I remember every little fact,
It does me all the good in the world. At least
I had my fun, however much deceived.
A damsel is not indolent who leads
A life of joy, especially if she
Knows how to make expense and gain by it.
" Then to this countryside I came, and met
Your lady, who engaged me to maintain
Your guardianship within these castle walls.
May God, who's guard and father of us all,
Grant that I do my duty! So I'll do
Most certainly if you behave yourself.
Since Nature's granted you a marvelous,
Surpassing beauty, risky were the task
If also you'd not learned good sense and wit
And gallantry and grace. Since place and time
Now serve us well and we need not to fear
To be disturbed in saying what we wish
A little better than we're used to do,
To counsel you I'll say what's on my mind;
Although my words be few, be not surprised.
I'll tell you in advance, 'tis not my wish
To set your thoughts on love; but, if your will
Is strong to intermeddle in such things,
I'll gladly show you all the roads and paths
That once I trod before my beauty fled. "
The woman sighed and ceased, that she might know
Fair Welcome's answer; but her wait was short;
For, when she saw him well disposed to hear,
What she might say, and silence still to hold,
As she prepared her purpose to pursue,
She thought, " There's no denying that the one
Who will not say a word assents to all;
Since willingly he listens, I may dare proceed. "