As the waves of perfume, heliotrope, rose, Float in the garden when no wind blows, Come to us, go from us, whence no one knows; So the old tunes float in my mind, And go from me leaving no trace behind, Like fragrance borne on the hush of the wind. But in the instant the airs remain I know the laughter and the pain Of times that will not come again. I try to catch at many a tune Like petals of light fallen from the moon, Broken and bright on a dark lagoon. But they float away -- for who can hold Youth, or perfume or the moon's gold? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GOLD COAST CUSTOMS by EDITH SITWELL THE SONG OF A HEATHEN by RICHARD WATSON GILDER THE COMET AT YELL'HAM by THOMAS HARDY RIVER OF SEVILLE by AL-KUTANDI FROM A YOUNG WOMAN TO AN OLD OFFICER WHO COURTED HER by ELIZABETH FRANCES AMHERST |