The spring shall visit thee again, <br />Itchin! and yonder ancient fane, <br />That casts its shadow on thy breast, <br />As if, by many winters beat, <br />The blooming season it would greet, <br />With many a straggling wild-flower shall be dressed. <br /> <br />But I, amid the youthful train <br />That stray at evening by thy side, <br />No longer shall a guest remain, <br />To mark the spring's reviving pride. <br />I go not unrejoicing; but who knows, <br />When I have shared, O world! thy common woes, <br />Returning I may drop some natural tears; <br />As these same fields I look around, <br />And hear from yonder dome the slow bell sound, <br />And think upon the joys that crowned my stripling years!<br /><br />William Lisle Bowles<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-leaving-winchester-school/
