| J. C. Squire, ed. A Book of Women’s Verse. 1921. | | | | Sonnet Written at the Close of Spring | | By Charlotte Smith (1749–1806) |
| | | THE GARLANDS fade that Spring so lately wove, | |
| Each simple flower which she has nurs’d in dew, | |
| Anemones, that spangled every grove, | |
| The primrose wan, and harebell mildly blue. | |
| No more shall violets linger in the dell, | 5 |
| Or purple orchis variegate the plain, | |
| Till Spring again shall call forth every bell | |
| And dress with hurried hands her wreaths again. | |
| Ah, poor humanity! so frail, so fair, | |
| And the fond visions of thy early day, | 10 |
| Till tyrant passion and corrosive care | |
| Bid all thy fairy colours flee away! | |
| Another May new birds and flowers shall bring; | |
| Ah! why has happiness no second spring? | | | | |
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