Page:Preludes, Meynell, 1875.djvu/33

Rh I know his heart has beat to bright

Sweet loves gone by.

I know the leaves that die to-night

Once budded to the sky,

And I shall die to his delight.

O leaves, so quietly ending now,

You have heard cuckoos sing.

And I will grow upon my bough

If only for a Spring,

And fall when the rain is on my brow.

O tell me, tell me ere you die,

Is it worth the pain?

You bloomed so fair, you waved so high;

Now that the sad days wane,

Are you repenting where you lie?

I lie amongst you, and I kiss

Your fragrance mouldering.

O dead delights, is it such bliss,

That tuneful Spring?

Is love so sweet, that comes to this?