 | Forest leaves |  |
AUTUMN.
Autumn is in the forest, hymning forthA wild farewell to summer. All sweet birds
Hear her low voice, and lift their shining wings,
With answering chorus of soft melody,
Pure as a seraph song—and float away
Upon the swelling anthem, toward the South,
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Which turns so carelessly from our cold clime,
Hangs evermore rejoicing. Summer friends
Are those soft vested warblers; when the grove
Is full of joy and beauty, they are there,
Gladdest and brightest of all lovely things.
But when the sun withdraws his fervid smile,
When beauty languishes, and joy no more
Stirs nature's sentient pulse, they too depart;
Leaving the shadowy galleries of the wood
To the lone pinions of the sobbing wind,
Which mourns the bright departed, yet leads on
The cheerful Autumn, with her generous hand
And deep blue loving eye. So kindly now
She bids the little flowers lie down and sleep,
And spreads above them gorgeous covering
Of full ripe foliage, which the forest trees
Cast from them, at her bidding. Now she shakes
The brown nuts from the boughs, and calls aloud
To merry squirrel, and the timid mouse,
“Fill your store-houses now, for winter comes!
I hear the echo of his chariot wheels,
Amongst the icebergs of the frozen sea,
That walls his sanctuary in the North
From man's adventurous footstep.” At her words
The little sportive creatures skip around,
And gather up her bounty. While the deer
Feed on the acrid acorns, or pick up
Sweet chestnuts on the hill.
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And bountiful to all. While unto man
She brings the treasures of corn, fruits, and wine;
She spreads the forest-dwellers' plenteous feast,
Of nuts, and seeds, and berries, and wild grapes,
By mountain, plain, and river.
Beautiful
Is Autumn, in her bright maturity,
Array'd in regal purple, and rich gold,
And bearing gifts from Him, whose open hand
Fills every living thing with plenteousness.
Queen of the year, is Autumn. Majesty
Sits like a diadem upon her brow;
The smile of heaven is in her clear blue eye,
As with a passionless, and gracious mien
She walks the quiet earth, and every where
By forest, field and garden, hill and dell,
Writes words of wisdom, which the young and old,
The high and low, may read, and understand,
And practise, and grow better.
| Forest leaves | |