 | The Poetical Works of Caroline Bowles Southey |  |
AUTUMN FLOWERS.
Those few pale Autumn flowers!
How beautiful they are!
Than all that went before,
Than all the Summer store,
How lovelier far!
How beautiful they are!
Than all that went before,
Than all the Summer store,
How lovelier far!
And why?—they are the last—
The last!—the last!—the last!—
Oh, by that little word,
How many thoughts are stirred!
That sister of the past!
The last!—the last!—the last!—
Oh, by that little word,
How many thoughts are stirred!
That sister of the past!
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Pale flowers!—pale perishing flowers!
Ye're types of precious things;
Types of those bitter moments
That flit, like life's enjoyments,
On rapid, rapid wings.
Ye're types of precious things;
Types of those bitter moments
That flit, like life's enjoyments,
On rapid, rapid wings.
Last hours with parting dear ones—
That time the fastest spends—
Last tears, in silence shed,
Last words, half utterèd,
Last look of dying friends!
That time the fastest spends—
Last tears, in silence shed,
Last words, half utterèd,
Last look of dying friends!
Who but would fain compress
A life into a day;
The last day spent with one,
Who, e'er the morrow's sun,
Must leave us, and for aye?
A life into a day;
The last day spent with one,
Who, e'er the morrow's sun,
Must leave us, and for aye?
Oh, precious, precious moments!
Pale flowers! ye're types of those—
The saddest, dearest!
Because, like those, the nearest
To an eternal close.
Pale flowers! ye're types of those—
The saddest, dearest!
Because, like those, the nearest
To an eternal close.
Pale flowers! pale perishing flowers!
I woo your gentle breath;
I leave the summer rose
For younger, blither brows;
Tell me of change and death!
I woo your gentle breath;
I leave the summer rose
For younger, blither brows;
Tell me of change and death!
| The Poetical Works of Caroline Bowles Southey | |