Classic Poem

Sweet friend, let 's mourn in music
The passing of the year:
Fresh Autumn's spicy breezes;
The sunny Summer clear;
And Spring, so sweet and beautiful,
When thoughts were never drear.

As dreams that warmed our slumber,
Dissolve in morning gray;
As friend that loved our childhood,
All shrink and turn to clay;
So our some months' companion
Fadeth at last away.

He fadeth, he departeth,
Beyond all human ken;
Bearing the sins, and agonies,
Hopes, fears, and joys of men;
Loathed, dreaded, loved, lamented; —
Never to come again!

What sounds of life and laughter
Were poured into his ear:
What thoughts, delights, and fantasies,
He passed in his career,
We know not: Once so cherished,
The deeds of Time have perished,
Like the flowers upon his bier.