 | The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere |  |
VI. THE KINDLY TRANSIENCE.
‘Like flowers,’ they tell us, ‘Life must fade!’
Ah flower-faced Friend! if flowers must die
Immortal sweets of these are made:
Thus Time bequeaths Eternity.
Ah flower-faced Friend! if flowers must die
Immortal sweets of these are made:
Thus Time bequeaths Eternity.
‘Life is a fleeting shade!’ What then?
The Substance doth the Shadow cast:
Essential Life, it recks not when,
Shall crown this seeming Life at last!
The Substance doth the Shadow cast:
Essential Life, it recks not when,
Shall crown this seeming Life at last!
Thus, while May breezes whirling caught
Dead leaves poor spoils of winter gone
Half-truths, deciduous spoils of Thought,
Their clothing from on high put on:
Dead leaves poor spoils of winter gone
Half-truths, deciduous spoils of Thought,
Their clothing from on high put on:
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And better far it seemed to plight
To earth a transient troth and trust
Than with corruption wed, and blight
The Spirit's hope with deathless dust.
To earth a transient troth and trust
Than with corruption wed, and blight
The Spirit's hope with deathless dust.
| The Poetical Works of Aubrey De Vere | |