WHEN I see the long wild briers Waving in the winds like fires, See the green skirts of the maples Barred with scarlet and with gold, See the sunflower, heavy-hearted, Shadows then from days departed Come and with their tender trembles Wrap my bosom, fold on fold. I can hear sweet invitations Through the sobbing, sad vibrations Of the winds that follow, follow, As from self I seek to fly -- Come up hither! come up hither! Leave the rough and rainy weather! Come up where the royal roses Never fade and never die! 'T was when May was blushing, blooming, Brown bee, bluebirds, singing, humming, That we built and walled our chamber With the emerald of leaves; Made our bed of yellow mosses, Soft as pile of silken flosses, Dreamed our dreams in dewy brightness Radiant like the morns and eves. And it was when woods were gleaming, And when clouds were wildly streaming Gray and umber, white and ember, Streaming in the north wind's breath, That my little rose-mouthed blossom Fell and faded on my bosom, Cankered by the coming coldness, Blighted by the frosts of death. Therefore, when I see the shadows, Drifting in across the meadows, See the troops of summer wild birds Flying from us, cloud on cloud, Memory with that May-time lingers, And I seem to feel the fingers Of my lost and lovely darling Wrap my heart up in her shroud. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PRAIRIES by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT HYSTERIA by THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT WHAT THE BULLET SANG by FRANCIS BRET HARTE WHEN FIRST MY WAY by ALFRED EDWARD HOUSMAN PREPARATORY MEDITATIONS, 2D SERIES: 56 by EDWARD TAYLOR THE EAGLE SWIFT by ADAM OF SAINT VICTOR ODES: BOOK 2: ODE 6. TO WILLIAM HALL, ESQ., WITH THE WORKS OF CHAULIEU by MARK AKENSIDE |