夏日结束了——太阳落山了:他们很好地完成了他们的职责，那些灿烂的时光，他们的末班车在红色的西部轻轻地开出。地上的青叶长起来了，牛群把它吃光了;嫩枝向太阳展开了它的辫状组织;园中和野地的花都吹干了，枯萎了;种子从破裂的细胞中落在土壤里，在坟墓里等待复活。池塘里的虫儿，把嗡嗡作响的翅膀填满了空气，现在却永远静止了;画眉飞蛾遨游蓝天，又死去;鸟妈妈为她的孩子们打碎了牢笼的壳，或者把他们从巢中推开，为他们最早的飞行做好了准备。在明亮的壁龛里，在树皮嶙峋的木屋里，在喧闹的城镇里，母亲们欢欢喜喜地抱着新生的婴儿。在孤寂的森林旁，在河流和海洋的岸边，在拥挤的城市的道路旁，坟墓已被挖空，填满，封闭。 This day hath parted friends That ne'er before were parted; it hath knit New friendships; it hath seen the maiden plight Her faith, and trust her peace to him who long Had wooed; and it hath heard, from lips which late Were eloquent of love, the first harsh word, That told the wedded one her peace was flown. Farewell to the sweet sunshine! One glad day Is added now to Childhood's merry days, And one calm day to those of quiet Age. Still the fleet hours run on; and as I lean, Amid the thickening darkness, lamps are lit, By those who watch the dead, and those who twine Flowers for the bride. The mother from the eyes Of her sick infant shades the painful light, And sadly listens to his quick-drawn breath. Oh thou great Movement of the Universe, Or Change, or Flight of Time--for ye are one! That bearest, silently, this visible scene Into night's shadow and the streaming rays Of starlight, whither art thou bearing me? I feel the mighty current sweep me on, Yet know not whither. Man foretells afar The courses of the stars; the very hour He knows when they shall darken or grow bright; Yet doth the eclipse of Sorrow and of Death Come unforewarned. Who next, of those I love, Shall pass from life, or, sadder yet, shall fall From virtue? Strife with foes, or bitterer strife With friends, or shame and general scorn of men-- Which who can bear?--or the fierce rack of pain, Lie they within my path? Or shall the years Push me, with soft and inoffensive pace, Into the stilly twilight of my age? Or do the portals of another life Even now, while I am glorying in my strength, Impend around me? Oh! beyond that bourne, In the vast cycle of being which begins At that broad threshold, with what fairer forms Shall the great law of change and progress clothe Its workings? Gently--so have good men taught-- Gently, and without grief, the old shall glide Into the new; the eternal flow of things, Like a bright river of the fields of heaven, Shall journey onward in perpetual peace.