If Happiness Fails

If happiness fails
If bliss is rejected
Then sadness and misery
Will be chosen, selected.
If adoration fades
If love disappears
Then hatred and odium
Will only bring more tears.

The mass of hatred already
Is more than I can bear
What, oh what, will we do
Without hope, without prayer?

If pleasure falls
If delight is denied
Then distress and sorrow
Will be our guide.
If ecstasy is ruined
If elation withers
Then  loathing and revulsion
Will e’er remain hither.

The mass of abhorrence already
Is more than can be endured
What, oh what, can be done
So this vengeance will be cured?

Happiness has been chosen
Bliss has been selected
Sadness and misery
Have been turned away, rejected
Adoration has won
Love has remained
And we have not lost;
Instead we have gained.
Pleasure has triumphed
Elation has prevailed
And distress and sorrow
By light have been veiled.