Classic Poem

Your beauty shall not save you from despair
In after-days when life is not so sweet
Along the garden-paths. That you were fair
And well-beloved, can it ease your feet
Down through the dark upon whose edge I stand
And see the shadows deepening on ahead
Even to the borders of the empty land
Where beauty ends and all the dreams are dead?
Child! drink the sunlight of this perfect hour
Which makes a slender blossom of your breast!
Time has gone dreaming, that your heart may flower;
And while he sleeps, be happy. That is best;
And laugh in triumphing beauty, even at one
Who in each flower sees flowers that now are gone.