Classic Poem

‘We bear velvet cream,
Green and babyish
Small leaves seem; each stream
Horses' tails that swish,

And the chimes remind
Us of sweet birds singing,
Like the jangling bells
On rose trees ringing.

Man must say farewell
To parents now,
And to William Tell,
And Mrs. Cow.

Man must say farewells
To storks and Bettes,
And to roses' bells,
And statuettes.

Forests white and black
In spring are blue
With forget-me-nots,
And to lovers true

Still the sweet bird begs
And tries to cozen
Them: “Buy angels' eggs
Sold by the dozen.”

Gone are clouds like inns
On the gardens' brinks,
And the mountain djinns—
Ganymede sells drinks;

While the days seem gray,
And his heart of ice,
Gray as chamois, or
The edelweiss,

And the mountain streams
Like cowbells sound—
Tirra lirra, drowned
In the waiter's dreams

Who has gone beyond
The forest waves,
While his true and fond
Ones seek their graves.’