For Time will teach thee soon the truth, There are no birds in last year's nest! - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

There are no birds in last year's nest.

Great men die and are forgotten,
Wise men speak; their words of wisdom
Perish in the ears that hear them,
Do not reach the generations
That, as yet unborn, are waiting
In the great, mysterious darkness
Of the speechless days that shall be!

Let him not boast who puts his armor on
As he who puts it off, the battle done.
Study yourselves; and most of all note well
Wherein kind Nature meant you to excel.
Not every blossom ripens into fruit.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining