Ye brave old fig-trees! worthy pair! Beneath whose shade I often lay To breathe awhile a cooler air, And shield me from the darts of day. Strangers have visited the spot, Led thither by my parting song; Alas! the strangers found you not, And curst the poet's lying tongue. Vanisht each venerable head, Nor bough nor leaf could tell them where To look for you, alive or dead; Unheeded was my distant prayer. I might have hoped (if hope had ever Been mine) that storm or time alone Your firm alliance would dissever . . Hath mortal hand your strength o'erthrown? Before an axe had bitten thro' The bleeding bark, some tender thought, If not for me, at least for you, On younger bosoms might have wrought. Age after age your honeyed fruit From boys unseen thro' foliage fell On lifted apron; now is mute The girlish glee! Old friends, farewell! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...COLLEGE DRINKING SONG by GEORGE SANTAYANA THE BOTTLES AND THE WINE by GEORGE SANTAYANA HENRY MOORE'S STATUE AT LINCOLN CENTER by KAREN SWENSON FRAGMENT, ON THE BACK OF THE POET'S MS. OF CANTO I OF 'DON JUAN' by GEORGE GORDON BYRON THIRD BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 26. FIRST LOVE by THOMAS CAMPION WAR IS KIND: 23 by STEPHEN CRANE |