A. E. Housman (1859–1936). A Shropshire Lad. 1896.

LVII. You smile upon your friend to-day

YOU smile upon your friend to-day,

To-day his ills are over;

You hearken to the lover’s say,

And happy is the lover.

’Tis late to hearken, late to smile,

But better late than never:

I shall have lived a little while

Before I die for ever.