James Weldon Johnson, ed. (1871–1938). The Book of American Negro Poetry. 1922.

Youth

THE DEW is on the grasses, dear,

The blush is on the rose,

And swift across our dial-youth,

A shifting shadow goes.

The primrose moments, lush with bliss,

Exhale and fade away,

Life may renew the Autumn time,

But nevermore the May!