An impulse of decay;
With silent speed it works,
While all without is gay:”
—with silent speed, like the worm at Jonah’s gourd. “Fleurs, vous aussi,” so Béranger apostrophizes them,
... “vous avez vos souffrances.
Le ver est là; le vent peut accourir.”
Le ver, as the worm prepared for Jonah’s gourd; le vent, as the vehement east wind to wither Jonah’s strength.
“While blooming love assures us golden fruit,
Some inborn poison taints the secret root;
Soon fall the flowers of joy.”