Yet, no - not words, for they
But half can tell love's feeling;
Sweet flowers alone can say
What passion fears revealing:
A once bright rose's wither'd leaf,
A tow'ring lily broken -
Oh, these may paint a grief
No words could ever have spoken. [ Moore ]

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale
Her infinite variety. [ William Shakespeare ]

Thou art a plant sprung up to wither never
But like a laurel, to grow green forever. [ Herrick ]

Words are like leaves; some wither every year, and every year a younger race succeed. [ Roscommon ]

Diseases crucify the soul of man, attenuate our bodies, dry them, wither them, shrivel them up like old apples, make them as so many anatomies. [ Burton ]

To wither away, be disleaved, be trodden to dust even by the rude feet of Fate, that, friend, is the lot on earth of everything that is beautiful and sweet. [ Heine ]

Joy wholly from without, is false, precarious, and short. From without it may be gathered; but, like gathered flowers, though fair, and sweet for a season, it must soon wither, and become offensive. Joy from within is like smelling the rose on the tree; it is more sweet and fair, it is lasting; and, I must add, immortal. [ Young ]