Page:Sibylline Leaves (Coleridge).djvu/163



that, ill besped,
 * Finest in the gladsome ray,

Soil'd beneath the common tread,
 * Far from thy protecting spray!

When the Partridge o'er the sheaf
 * Whirr'd along the yellow vale,

Sad I saw thee, heedless leaf!
 * Love the dalliance of the gale.

Lightly didst thou, foolish thing!
 * Heave and flutter to his sighs,

While the flatterer, on his wing,
 * Wooed and whisper'd thee to rise.

Gaily from thy mother-stalk
 * Wert thou danced and wafted high—

Soon on this unshelter'd walk
 * Flung to fade, to rot and die.