Sonnet LXXXV (THE fairest flowers are gone! for…)

THE fairest flowers are gone! for tempests fell, And with wild wing swept some unblown away, While on the upland lawn or rocky dell More faded in the day-star's ardent ray; And scarce the copse, or hedge-row shade beneath, Or by the runnel's grassy course, appear Some lingering blossoms of the earlier year, Mingling bright florets, in the yellow wreath That Autumn with his poppies and his corn Binds on his tawny temples—So the schemes Rais'd by fond Hope in youth's unclouded morn, While sanguine youth enjoys delusive dreams, Experience withers; till scarce one remains Flattering the languid heart, where only Reason reigns!