No more shall hapless Celia's ears Be fluttered with the cries Of lovers drowned in floods of tears, Or murdered by her eyes; No serenades to break her rest, Nor songs her slumbers to molest, With my fa, la, la. The fragrant flowers that once would And flourish in her hair, [bloom Since she no longer breathes perfume Their odours to repair, Must fade, alas! and wither now, As placed on any common brow, With my fa, la, la. Her lip, so winning and so meek, No longer has its charms; As well she might by whistling seek To lure us to her arms; Affected once, 'tis real now, As her forsaken gums may show, With my fa, la, la. The down that on her chin so smooth So lovely once appeared, That, too, has left her with her youth, Or sprouts into a beard; As fields, so green when newly sown, With stubble stiff are overgrown, With my fa, la, la. Then, Celia, leave your apish tricks, And change your girlish airs, For ombre, snuff, and politics, Those joys that suit your years; No patches can lost youth recall, Nor whitewash prop a tumbling wall, With my fa, la, la. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A GRAMMARIAN'S FUNERAL by ROBERT BROWNING PROMETHEUS by JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE THE SPIRIT OF POETRY by HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW APOLOGIA PRO POEMATE MEO by WILFRED OWEN THE STORK by GHALIB IBN RIBAH AL-HAJJAM FLOWER AND THORN by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH BALLADE OF THE FOREST HAUNTERS by THEODORE FAULLAIN DE BANVILLE |