From swift decay ! 
Beauty and youth are dust to dust allied, 
And time returns its tribute to the grave ! 
Pale, unobtrusive tenant of the field! 
Thy fair, unsullied form shall still remain, 
’Mid summer’s heat and autumn’s chill career, 
And winter’s reign ; 
E’en the first honours of the floral year 
To thee alone shall gay Narcissus yield. 
Fair emblem art thou of the pious breast! 
Like thee, unfading flower, shall virtue bloom, 
When youth and all its bustling pride repose 
Deep in the tomb! 
When beauty’s cheek shall wither like the Rose, 
And beauty’s sparkling eye shall be at rest! 
