Classic Poem

See , when refulgent summer reigns,
What various flow'rs delight our eyes,
With fragrance fill the verdant plains,
And smile beneath indulgent skies:

The tulip gay, the blushing rose,
The cowslip, primrose, violet blue,
And thousands more their sweets disclose,
Of every scent and every hue.

But, transient as the sunny gleam,
They quickly wither, droop and die,
And, on the borders of the stream,
In tarnish'd heaps of ruin lie.

But see yon fragrant myrtle rise,
With foliage of unfading green,
Scorning to shrink from frowning skies,
'Tis permanent thro' every scene.

When winter desolates the plain,
And angry Boreas rudely blows,
Its vivid hue it still retains,
And glows amidst descending snows.

Thus radiant virtue rears her head,
From every threatening storm, a screen,
When beauty, youth, and wit are fled,
An undecaying ever-green.