Classic Poem

(Belle Leçon de Villon aux enfans perduz)

Fair children, in waste ye strew
The roses that for you blow.
My clerks, who can clutch like glue,
If ye journey to Montpippeau,
Or Reul, have a care, ye know
For the dice that there he threw —
Risking a second throw —
Was lost Colin de Caileux.

This is no little game,
For body and soul are fee;
If ye lose, from a death of shame
Repentance will not save ye.
And the winner, what gain has he?
No Dido for wife he's bought.
Bad, and a fool, must be
The man who risks all for nought.

Now listen unto this song,
For it is the truth I say,
A barrel will last not long
By hearth or in woods of May.
Money soon runs away,
And when it is spent and gone
Where is your heritage, pray?
Evil brings good to none.