Nature and Elements

Sweet and low, sweet and low,

 

Come into the garden, Maud,

 

Come into the garden, Maud,

 

In the spring a livelier iris changes on the burnished dove;

 

‘Tirra lirra,’ by the river

 

Willows whiten, aspens quiver,

 

Willows whiten, aspens quiver,

 

On either side the river lie

 

Below the thunders of the upper deep;

 

There hath he lain for ages and will lie

 

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

 

So careful of the type she seems,

 

The last red leaf is whirled away,

 

He clasps the crag with crookèd hands;

 

Sunset and evening star,

 

Sunset and evening star,

 

I come from haunts of coot and hern,

 

Break, break, break,

 

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

 

Night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day

 

It was the nightingale, and not the lark,

 

It was the nightingale, and not the lark,

 

Give me my Romeo: and, when he shall die,

 

Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds,