Unto all things give the opposite.
Unto joy give sorrow. To happiness give regret.
Unto laughter give tears. In time of mourning,
rejoice.
For what has a beginning also has an ending.
And no thing can exist without its opposite.
For nothing can exist alone and everlasting.
Contemplate each moment with a meditation
of its opposite.
As surely as light creates shadow,
the one brings forth the other
and each will be followed by the other.
Thus happiness will end in sadness
and the end of suffering is relief.
Surround the old and elderly
with youth and young children.
Death is healed by sex.
When a loved one dies,
celebrate by making love.
Moderate pain with pleasure. Grief with humor.
Piety with insanctimony. Modesty with ribaldry.
In wealth, remember hardship by going without
a luxury.
In poverty, reward yourself with whatever
luxury you can afford.
On the day of your marriage,
contemplate the price of the divorce.
Thus, on the occasion of moving into her
new apartment,
she wept.
Going on and on with some pretty wise platitudes, then the last two stanzas slam the door onto one's face in the real world. Moderation is a pretty good shock absorber for this wonderfully strange vehicle of chemically washed body, mind, and heart. Doors slammed in faces are quite like potholes which can not only ruin shock absorbers, but a deep enough pothole can alter the course of life. Nevertheless, life goes on, and returns us to the beginning of the poem.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Doors slammed on one's face are as identical as a door opened. Time and change happen.