Classic Poem

No fragrance fills the playful breeze;
No flowers the fields adorn:
But bare and leafless are the trees,
And dreary is the lawn .
For bliss-destroying Winter reigns,
The Lapland tyrant of the plains.

The crystal lakes unruffled stream,
With face serene, as even,
Whose surface in the solar beam,
Shone with the smile of heaven;
Chilled by cold Winter's frigid sway,
Reflect no more the face of day!

The nymphs no longer trip the field,
Nor, from the crowded green,
Fly, in some grove to lie concealed,
Yet hope their flight was seen.
No more, amid the sylvan dance,
Smiles round the soul-subduing glance!

And sylvan Pleasure's voice is hushed;
And the sweet roseate dye,
Which on the cheek of Nature blushed,
No more delights the eye.
Oh! thus the cheek of Beauty fades,
When wintry age its bloom pervades!