The last rose of summer夏日最後的玫瑰

"The Last Rose of Summer" is a poem by the Irish poet Thomas Moore, written in 1805. The poem has been set to music and is often sung as a traditional folk song. It is a poignant reflection on the beauty and transience of life, as symbolized by the last remaining rose of summer. Here is the full text of the poem:

'Tis the last rose of summer left blooming alone;
All her lovely companions are faded and gone;
No flower of her kindred, no rosebud is nigh,
To reflect back her blushes, to give sigh for sigh.

I'll not leave thee, thou lone one! to pine on the stem;
Since the lovely are sleeping, go, sleep thou with them;
Thus kindly I scatter thy leaves o'er the bed,
Where thy mates of the garden lie scentless and dead.

So soon may I follow, when friendships decay,
And from Love's shining circle the gems drop away.
When true hearts lie withered, and fond ones are flown,
Oh! who would inhabit this bleak world alone?

The poem speaks of the loneliness and vulnerability of the last rose, standing alone amidst the fading beauty of summer. It is a metaphor for the poet's own feelings of isolation and the impermanence of life's pleasures, including friendship and love. The rose's fate serves as a reminder of the inevitability of death and the transient nature of all earthly beauty.