Before the falling summer sun The boughs are shining all as gold, And down below them waters run, As there in former years they roll'd; The poolside wall is glowing hot, The pool is in a dazzling glare, And makes it seem as, ah! 'tis not, A summer when my life was fair. The evening, gliding slowly by, Seems one of those that long have fled; The night comes on to star the sky As then it darken'd round my head. A girl is standing by yon door, As one in happy times was there, And this day seems, but is no more, A day when all my life was fair. We hear from yonder feast the hum Of voices, as in summers past; And hear the beatings of the drum Again come throbbing on the blast. There neighs a horse in yonder plot, As once there neigh'd our petted mare, And summer seems, but ah! is not The summer when our life was fair. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SONG OF THE OPEN COUNTRY by DOROTHY PARKER AFTER THE QUARREL by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR HIS GRANGE, OR PRIVATE WEALTH by ROBERT HERRICK THE MASK OF ANARCHY; WRITTEN ON OCCASION OF MASSACRE AT MANCHESTER by PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY LONDON SURVEYED AND ILLUSTRATED by JOHANNEM ADAMUS |