There is sorrow enough in the natural way
                                                From men and women to fill our day;
                                                And when we are certain of sorrow in store,
                                                Why do we always arrange for more?
                                                Brothers and sisters, I bid you beware
                                                Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.

                                                Buy a pup and your money will buy
                                                Love unflinching that cannot lie-
                                                Perfect passion and worship fed
                                                By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head,
                                                Nether the less it is hardly fair
                                                To risk your heart for a dog to tear.

                                                When the fourteen years which nature permits
                                                Are closing in asthma, or tumour, or fits,
                                                And the vet's unspoken prescription runs
                                                To lethal chambers or loaded guns,
                                                Then you will find-it's your own affair-
                                                But...you've given your heart to a dog to tear.

                                                We've sorrow enough in the natural way,
                                                When it comes to burying Christian clay,
                                                Our loves are not give, but only lent,
                                                At compound interest cent by cent.
                                                Though it is not always the case, I believe,
                                                That the longer we've kept 'em, the more we do grieve;
                                                For, when debts are payable, right or wrong,
                                                A short-time loan is as bad as a long-
                                                So why in-Heaven (before we are there)
                                                Should we give our heart to a dog to tear?

                                                            Rudyard Kipling........