Ode XXXVII: Ask, ye twain, the Lady of

Ask, ye twain, the Lady of the curtained tent what is her case, and at which of those things that we have lost does she wonder ;

For we are not the first of those who have missed, in spite of skill, some thing that they have sought.

How many a wooer has abased himself [to a woman in pressing his suit], and has wedded another than her he wooed ;

And another than he has been wedded to her in his stead, although it was for him that she veiled herself first.

And oft-times the man who has no skill attains, and oft-times the artful and wily is overthrown.

Seest thou not how the white-legged goats of the mountain tops, when a [destined] hunter comes, are drawn

Towards him — and this not from any skill that the hunter puts forth to take them,

But there is One who bids it be and ordains it for them : when He takes the matter in hand, none can prevail against Him.

[Yea, if her abode now keeps her far distant from us, and she is lost to me — here in this place is there somewhat to ask about.

Of old were we two bound in sincerest love : we feared no tale-bearers or the false rumours that they embroidered ;

But there came a breach in our linked affections, like the breaking of a glass, that cannot be mended,

Or like the stream of milk which, once drawn forth, can never be brought back again to the udder.]