University of Virginia Library


107

X.THE ROBIN'S OCTOBER SONG.

That carol to the cold and misty morn,
That ending autumn-song, that short-lived song,
O robin! I know well, so sharp and strong,
As do those trembling groves already shorn
And yellowing. O brief sweet song! so lorn
Of gladness; all these leaves, from twig to stem,
Tremble as if dead fingers counted them:
To sing such song men too were surely born.
And this it is: the most desired of Gods
Is waxen weak, and all his children too,
Even the sun; that wide-winged spectre flew
Faster, and now hath caught him by the hair.
Let us contend no more against the rods,
But sing our last song, and descend the stair.