Wintertime nighs; <br />But my bereavement-pain <br />It cannot bring again: <br />Twice no one dies. <br /> <br />Flower-petals flee; <br />But since it once hath been, <br />No more that severing scene <br />Can harrow me. <br /> <br />Birds faint in dread: <br />I shall not lose old strength <br />In the lone frost's black length: <br />Strength long since fled! <br /> <br />Leaves freeze to dun; <br />But friends cannot turn cold <br />This season as of old <br />For him with none. <br /> <br />Tempests may scath; <br />But love cannot make smart <br />Again this year his heart <br />Who no heart hath. <br /> <br />Black is night's cope; <br />But death will not appal <br />One, who past doubtings all, <br />Waits in unhope.<br /><br />Thomas Hardy<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/in-tenebris/
