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" There was an old belief that in the embers
Of all things their primordial form exists,
And cunning alchemists
Could re-create the rose with all its members
From its own ashes, but without the bloom,
Without the lost perfume
Ah me! what wonder-working, occult science
Can from the ashes in our hearts once more
The rose of youth restore?
What craft of alchemy can bid defiance
To time and change, and for a single hour
Renew this phantom-flower? "

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow


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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow quote : There was an old belief that in the embers<br />Of all things their primordial form exists,<br /> And cunning alchemists<br />Could re-create the rose with all its members<br />From its own ashes, but without the bloom,<br /> Without the lost perfume<br /> Ah me! what wonder-working, occult science<br />Can from the ashes in our hearts once more<br /> The rose of youth restore?<br />What craft of alchemy can bid defiance<br />To time and change, and for a single hour<br /> Renew this phantom-flower?