But, ah! while Nature courts your eye, —
While genial beams flit o'er the sky;
Though pleas'd to view the shifting scene,
From rage-ting'd red, to blue serene;
Remember that a friend may sigh,
And the round tear bedim the eye;
That absence throws a deeper shade
Than ever darken'd through the glade;
And that, when heart-lov'd friends appear,
Not all the changes of the year —
Not all the blossoms of the rose —
Nor all the sweets that Summer throws,
Such joy, such life, the heart can lend,
As the return of that dear Friend!