Brittle beauty that nature made so frail, Whereof the gift is small, and short the season, Flow'ring today, tomorrow apt to fail, Tickle treasure, abhorred of reason, Dangerous to deal with, vain, of none avail, Costly in keeping, passed not worth two peason, Slippery in sliding as an eeles tail, Hard to attain, once gotten not geason, Jewel of jeopardy that peril doth assail, False and untrue, enticed oft to treason, Enemy to youth (that most may I bewail!), Ah, bitter sweet! infecting as the poison, Thou farest as fruit that with the frost is taken: Today ready ripe, tomorrow all too shaken. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE HERETIC: 2. IRONY by LOUIS UNTERMEYER DEATH (1) by MAXWELL BODENHEIM THE MAID'S LAMENT; ELIZABETHAN by WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR THE FAIR SINGER by ANDREW MARVELL TO THE MAN-OF-WAR-BIRD by WALT WHITMAN |