Ah, no; ah, no; for, long ago,
    Ere time could sear, or care could fret,
There was a youth called Romeo,
    There was a maid named Juliet.

The players of the past are gone;
    The races rise; the races pass;
And softly over all is drawn
    The quiet Curtain of the Grass.

But when the world went wild with Spring,
    What days we had! Do you forget?
When I of all the world was King,
    And you were my Queen Juliet?

The things that are; the things that seem—
    Who shall distinguish shape from show?
The great processional, splendid dream
    Of life is all I wish to know.

The gods their faces turn away
    From nations and their little wars;
But we our golden drama play
    Before the footlights of the stars.

There lives—though Time should cease to flow,
    And stars their courses should forget—
There lives a grey-haired Romeo,
    Who loves a golden Juliet.