OLD TUNES - by Sara Teasdale

 

OLD  TUNES   by   Sara Teasdale As the waves of perfume, heliotrope,rose,Float in the garden when no wind blows,Come to us, go from us, whence no one knows;So the old tunes float in my mind,And go from me leaving no trace behind,Like fragrance borne on the hush of the wind.but in the instant the airs remainI know the laughter and the painOf times that will not come again.I try to catch at many a tuneLike petals of light fallen from the moon,Broken and bright on a dark lagoon.But they float away--for who can holdYouth, or perfume or the moon's gold ?