LXVIII + 

Reverses + 

When mirth is full and free, + 

Some sudden gloom shall be; + 

When haughty power mounts high, + 

The Watcher’s axe is nigh. + 

All growth has bound; when greatest found, + 

It hastes to die. + 

When the rich town, that long + 

Has lain its huts among, + 

Uprears its pageants vast, + 

And vaunts⁠—it shall not last! + 

Bright tints that shine, are but a sign + 

Of summer past. + 

And when thine eye surveys, + 

With fond adoring gaze, + 

And yearning heart, thy friend⁠— + 

Love to its grave doth tend. + 

All gifts below, save Truth, but grow + 

Towards an end. + 