Ah thou! that, undeceived and unregretting , Saw'st death so near thee on the flowery way, And with no sigh that life was near the setting, Took'st the delight and dalliance of the day; Happy thou wert, to live and pass away Ere life or love had done thee any wrong; Ere thy wreath faded, or thy locks grew gray, Or summer came to lull thine April song, Sweet as all shapes of sweet things unfulfilled- Buds bloomless, and the broken violet, The first spring days, the sounds and scents thereof; So clear thy fire of song, so early chilled, So brief, so bright thy life that gaily met Death, for thy death came hand in hand with love. |