BEWARE a speedy friend, the Arabian said, And wisely was it he advised distrust. The flower that blossoms earliest fades the first. Look at yon oak that lifts its stately head And dallies with the autumnal storm, whose rage Tempests the ocean waves; slowly it rose, Slowly its strength increased, through many an age, And timidly did its light leaves unclose, As doubtful of the spring, their palest green. They to the summer cautiously expand, And by the warmer sun and season bland Matured, their foliage in the grove is seen, When the bare forest by the wintry blast Is swept, still lingering on the boughs the last. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A CORONAL by WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS OF THE THEME OF LOVE by MARGARET LUCAS CAVENDISH TO MARY UNWIN by WILLIAM COWPER COLUMBUS by CINCINNATUS HEINE MILLER THE MORAL FABLES: THE WOLF AND THE LAMB by AESOP CASTLES by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH THE OLD GHOST by THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES |