The snows are fled away, leaves now on the limbs
And grasses in the meadow renew their birth
The river to the river bed bends
And altered is the fashion of the earth.

The nymphs and Graces three put off their fear
And unapparelled in the woodland play
The swift hour and brief prime of year
Say to the soul, time fleeting for you here

Thaw follows frost; hard on the heel of Spring
Treads Summer sure to die for fast on her
Comes autumn’s ring his apples scattering
Then back to winter when nothing stirs

But oh whatever the winter seasons mar
Moon upon moon rebuilds it with her beams
Come we all where Tullus and where Ancus are
And good Aeneas, we are dust and we are dreams

Torquatus, if the Gods in heaven shall add
Tomorrow to today how will we know
Feast then your heart for what your heart has had
No fingers of an heir can hold

For when you descend among the shades
When Minos once has fixed your doom
No eloquence or splendid birth
No past virtue restores you to earth

Night holds Hippolytus the pure of stain
Diana powerless he must stay
And Theseus leaves Pirithous in the chain
That a best friend’s love can’t tear away