Treading the path to nobler ends,
A long farewell to love I gave,
Resolved my country, and my friends,
All that remained of me should have.

And this resolve no mortal dame,
None but those eyes could have o'erthrown,
The nymph I dare not, need not name,
So high, so like herself alone.

Thus the tall oak, which now aspires
Above the fear of private fires,
Grown and designed for nobler use,
Not to make warm, but build the house,
Though from our meaner flames secure,
Must that which falls from heaven endure.

(with Billy Rose)

VERSE 1

So proper and polite,
Upon this lovely night
We sit here making foolish conversation,
Instead of being bright.
Let's be ourselves tonight
And take advantage of the situation:

REFRAIN

The night is young and you're so beautiful,
Here among the shadows, beautiful lady,
Open your heart.
The scene is set, the breezes sing of it;
Can't you get into the swing of it, lady,
When do we start?
When the lady is kissable

(I' M I N Love W ITH )

I'm in love with the honorable Mister So and So.
I can't mention his name with propriety,
He's a pillar of Gotham society
And the newspaper columnists all would love to know
I'm in love with the honorable Mister So and So.
He goes out with the fashionable Lady So and So.
While they dine and they dance in a swell room,
I must wait in a stuffy hotel room
For the moment so rare that's convenient for him to spare.
He gets terribly annoyed if he doesn't find me there.
Why must I be living in a back street

Many long years ago, I loved a youth,
Who seemed the soul of honor and of truth —
He charmed my heart with some unholy spell,
He was a serpent, whom I loved so well.

The blush of girlhood had just ting'd my cheek;
He knew me young — perchance he thought me weak.
'Tis said, he often boasted of his power,
To gather for his own each new-blown flower.

My simple language can not well describe
How first he stood before me in his pride;
His form was cast in beauty's manly mould;
His eyes shot fire, and his hair was gold.

I went before God, and he said,
" What fruit of the life I gave?"
" Father," I said, " It is dead,
And nothing grows on the grave."

Wroth was the Lord and stern:
" Hadst thou not to answer me?
Shall the fruitless root not burn,
And be wasted utterly?"

" Father," I said, " forgive!
For thou knowest what I have done;
That another's life might live
Mine turned to a barren stone."

But the Father of Life sent fire
And burned the root in the grave;
And the pain in my heart is dire

VERSE

Let it rain and thunder!
Let a million firms go under!
I am not concerned with
Stocks and bonds that I've been burned with.
I love you and you love me,
And that's how it will always be.
And nothing else can ever mean a thing.
Who cares what the public chatters?
Love's the only thing that matters.

REFRAIN

Who cares
If the sky cares to fall in the sea?
Who cares what banks fail in Yonkers,
Long as you've got a kiss that conquers?
Why should I care?
Life is one long jubilee,

VERSE

If I should suddenly start to sing
Or stand on my head—or anything,
Don't think that I've lost my senses;
It's just that my happiness finally commences.
The long, long ages of dull despair
Are turning into thin air,
And it seems that suddenly I've
Become the happiest man alive.

REFRAIN

Things are looking up!
I've been looking the landscape over
And it's covered with four-leaf clover.
Oh, things are looking up
Since love looked up at me.
Bitter was my cup—

VERSE

Why are people gay
All the night and day,
Feeling as they never felt before?
What is the thing
That makes them sing?
Rich man, poor man, thief,
Doctor, lawyer, chief,
Feel a feeling that they can't ignore;
It plays a part
In ev'ry heart,
And ev'ry heart is shouting " Encore! "

REFRAIN

Love is sweeping the country;
Waves are hugging the shore;
All the sexes
From Maine to Texas
Have never known such love before.
See them billing and cooing

  VERSE

The more I read the papers,
The less I comprehend
The world and all its capers
And how it all will end.
Nothing seems to be lasting,
But that isn't our affair;
We've got something permanent—
I mean, in the way we care.

  REFRAIN

It's very clear
Our love is here to stay;
Not for a year,
But ever and a day.
The radio and the telephone
And the movies that we know
May just be passing fancies—
And in time may go.
But oh, my dear,
Our love is here to stay.
Together we're

REFRAIN

We thought that love was over,
That we were really through.
I said I didn't love her,
That we'd begin anew.
And you can all believe me,
We sure intended to,
But we just couldn't say good-bye.
The chair and then the sofa,
They broke right down and cried.
The curtains started wavin'
For me to come inside.
I tell you confidentially,
The tears were hard to hide,
And we just couldn't say good-bye.
The clock was striking twelve o'clock,
It smiled on us below.
With folded hands it seemed to say,