To wander near a ruined home Upon a summer morning, Informs the mind and charms the eye But gives the heart a warning; For Oh! the sense of human change That such a scene discloses— The roses 'round the fallen walls And lilacs 'round the roses. The hands that built the house were strong, The builded house was stronger, The flowers a wifely afterthought But they have lasted longer; We wonder in what grass-grown plot The tenant now reposes, And she, as well, for whom they grew, The lilacs and the roses. Some leaning wrecks of orchard trees Declare that life was pleasant; They lived, as we are living now, Concerned about the present; However dear, another day The dearest day deposes, And aftertime binds up the wounds With lilacs and with roses. Here children played about the door And here delayed the lover, But now not e'en the portal's site A stranger may discover; We hope that no philandering Seth, No false Uriah or Moses, Despoiled this home and only left The lilacs and the roses. The highway once went winding by, But long ago was shifted To follow through the intervale Whereto "the world" had drifted; The robins chirp about no more, A human chapter closes, With just this fragrant finis piece Of lilacs set in roses. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...STALKING LEMURS by KAREN SWENSON SONNET: 46 by WILLIAM DRUMMOND OF HAWTHORNDEN INVITATION TO LOVE by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR BEFORE ACTION by WILLIAM NOEL HODGSON TWICE by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI WOMAN'S BEAUTY by LASCELLES ABERCROMBIE ODES: BOOK 1: ODE 17. ON A SERMON AGAINST GLORY by MARK AKENSIDE |