Inscription Under a Portrait

INSCRIPTION UNDER A PORTRAIT

Frolic as a curly angel,
Gay as a summer butterfly,
She speaks with meaningless significance
But her mouth makes it welcoming.

Her affection cannot be long:
She loathes habit as if it were a chain,
She'll slip away like a snake,
She'll flutter and be gone like a little bird.

Her young brow dissimulates
At her whim, either joy or grief.
Her eyes are as luminous as heavens,
Her soul is as murky as the deep sea!

Now she breathes out the saintly truth,
A moment later she is full of pretense and deception!
It is impossible to comprehend her
But not to love her? Even more impossible.

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