XXVIII + 

To Love all ages lowly bend, + 

But the young unpolluted heart + 

His gusts should fertilize, amend, + 

As vernal storms the fields athwart. + 

Youth freshens beneath Passion’s showers, + 

Develops and matures its powers, + 

And thus in season the rich field + 

Gay flowers and luscious fruit doth yield. + 

But at a later, sterile age, + 

The solstice of our earthly years, + 

Mournful Love’s deadly trace appears + 

As storms which in chill autumn rage + 

And leave a marsh the fertile ground + 

And devastate the woods around. + 