A little while to walk with thee, dear child; br To lean on thee my weak and weary head; br Then evening comes: the winter sky is wild, br The leafless trees are black, the leaves long dead. br br A little while to hold thee and to stand, br By harvest-fields of bending golden corn; br Then the predestined silence, and thine hand, br Lost in the night, long and weary and forlorn. br br A little while to love thee, scarcely time br To love thee well enough; then time to part, br To fare through wintry fields alone and climb br The frozen hills, not knowing where thou art. br br Short summer-time and then, my heart's desire, br The winter and the darkness: one by one br The roses fall, the pale roses expire br Beneath the slow decadence of the sun.