SPRING'S first flowerets, fair and white, Summer roses, sweet and fair, Crystal streamlets, flashing bright, Fervent heat and gentle air,— All have vanish'd like a dream! Winter, now, is close at hand, Dark and sluggish flows the stream, Bare and brown the forests stand! Thus upon the heart of man, O'er his spirit's generous rage, Towards the close of Life's short span, Falls the blighting frost of age; Youth's gay fancies all have flown, Summer's flowers all passed away,— Weary, sad, dejected, lone, He lingers through Life's dull decay! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE ANGLER'S WISH by IZAAK WALTON EPIGRAM by DECIMUS MAGNUS AUSONIUS A WOMAN'S APOLOGY by ALFRED AUSTIN |