THERE'S a time to be jolly, a time to repent, A season for folly, a season for Lent, The first as the worst we too often regard; The rest as the best, but our judgment is hard. There are snows in December and Roses in June, There's darkness at midnight and sunshine at noon; But, were there no sorrow, no storm-cloud or rain, Who'd care for the morrow with beauty again. The world is a picture both gloomy and bright, And grief is the shadow and pleasure the light, And neither should smother the general tone: For where were the other if either were gone? The valley is lovely; the mountain is drear, Its summit is hidden in mist all the year; But gaze from the heaven, high over all weather, And mountain and valley are lovely together. I have learned to love Lucy, though faded she be; If my next love be lovely, the better for me. By the end of next summer, I'll give you my oath, It was best, after all, to have flirted with both. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE PHOENIX AND THE TURTLE by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE A NIGHT IN JUNE by ALFRED AUSTIN THE OLD CAMP; WRITTEN IN A ROMAN FORTIFICATION IN BAVARIA by WILLIAM EDMONSTOUNE AYTOUN OUR BE'THPLEACE by WILLIAM BARNES PORTBURY by THOMAS EDWARD BROWN AN EPISTLE THROWN INTO A RIVER IN A BALL OF WAX by WILLIAM BROWNE (1591-1643) |