The same strain is repeated in the lines which begin, "a boy's love is fair to keep, fair to lay aside."[59] As one time Theognis tells his friend that he has the changeable temper of a hawk, the skittishness of a pampered colt.[60] At another he remarks that boys are more constant than women in their affection.[61] His passion rises to its noblest height in a poem which deserves to rank with some of Shakespeare's sonnets, and which, like them, has fulfilled its own promise of immortality.[62] In order to appreciate the value of the fame conferred on Kurnus by Theognis, and celebrated in such lofty strains, we must remember that these elegies were sung at banquets. "The fair young men," of whom the poet speaks, boy-lovers themselves, chaunted the praise of Kurnus to the sound of flutes, while the cups went round or the lyre was passed from hand to hand of merry-making guests. A subject to which Theognis more than once refers is calumny:-- "Often will the folk speak vain things against thee in my ears, and against me in thine. Pay thou no heed to them."[63] Again, he frequently reminds the boy he loves, whether it be Kurnus or some other, that the bloom of youth is passing, and that this is a reason for showing kindness.[64] This argument is urged with what appears like coarseness in the following couplet:-- "O boy, so long as thy chin remains smooth, never will I cease from fawning, no, not if it is doomed for me to die."[65] A couplet, which is also attributed to Solon, shows that paiderastia at this time in Greece was associated with manly sports and pleasures:-- "Blest is the man who loves brave steeds of war, Fair boys, and hounds, and stranger guests from far."[66] Nor must the following be omitted:-- "Blest is the man who loves, and after play, Whereby his limbs are supple made and strong, Retiring to his home, 'twixt sleep and song, Sports with a fair boy on his breast all day."[67] The following couplet is attributed to him by Plutarch,[68] nor does there seem any reason to doubt its genuineness. The text seems to be corrupt, but the meaning is pretty clear:-- "In the charming season of the flower-time of youth thou shalt love boys, yearning for their thighs and honeyed mouth." Solon, it may be remembered, thought it wise to regulate the conditions under which the love of free youths might be tolerated.