Laudator Temporis Acti

Willa Cather (1873-1947), "In Media Vita," in April Twilights (Boston: The Gorham Press, 1903), p. 21:

Streams of the spring a-singing,
        Winds o' the May that blow,
Birds from the Southland winging,
        Buds in the grasses below.
Clouds that speed hurrying over,
        And the climbing rose by the wall,
Singing of bees in the clover,
        And the dead, under all!

Lads and their sweethearts lying
        In the cleft o' the windy hill;
Hearts that hushed of their sighing,
        Lips that are tender and still.
Stars in the purple gloaming,
        Flowers that suffuse and fall,
Twitter of bird-mates homing,
        And the dead, under all!

Herdsman abroad with his collie,
        Girls on their way to the fair,
Hot lads a-chasing their folly,
        Parsons a-praying their prayer.
Children their kites a-flying,
        Grandsires that nod by the wall,
Mothers soft lullabies sighing,
        And the dead, under all!