“But pleasures are like poppies spread,You seize the flower, it's bloom is shed;Or, like the snow-fall in the river,A moment white, then melts forever.”

“Pleasures are like poppies spreadYou seize the flower its bloom is shedOr like the snow falls in the riverA moment white, then melts foreverOr like the Borealis raceThat flit ere you can point their placeOr like the rainbow's lovely formEvanshing amidst the stormNae man can tether time nor tideThe hour approaches, Tam must ride”

“My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.”

“Whoever reaches into a rosebush may seize a handful of flowers; but no matter how many one holds, it's only a small portion of the whole. Nevertheless, a handful is enough to experience the nature of the flowers. Only if we refuse to reach into the bush, because we can't possibly seize all the flowers at once, or if we spread out our handful of roses as if it were the whole of the bush itself -- only then does it bloom apart from us, unknown to us, and we are left alone.”

“Shed no tear! oh, shed no tear!The flower will bloom another year.Weep no more! oh, weep no more!Young buds sleep in the root’s white core.Dry your eyes! oh, dry your eyes!For I was taught in ParadiseTo ease my breast of melodies,— Shed no tear.Overhead! look overhead!‘Mong the blossoms white and red—Look up, look up! I flutter nowOn this fresh pomegranate bough.See me! ’tis this silvery billEver cures the good man’s ill.Shed no tear! oh, shed no tear!The flower will bloom another year.Adieu, adieu—I fly—adieu!I vanish in the heaven’s blue,— Adieu, adieu!- Fairy Song”

“They say, he whispers, his lips making the word-shapes on her shoulder, there is a river that heals all wounds. It is pure white, like snow or the blossoms of prarie-cotton. You are my white river. If I die, I will come back to wash my heart in you.”