 | Poems for children |  |
68
BLUEBIRDS IN AUTUMN.
The morning was gray and cloudy,
And over the fading land
Autumn was casting the withered leaves
Abroad with a lavish hand.
And over the fading land
Autumn was casting the withered leaves
Abroad with a lavish hand.
Sad lay the tawny pastures,
Where the grass was brown and dry;
And the far-off hills were blurred with mist,
Under the sombre sky.
Where the grass was brown and dry;
And the far-off hills were blurred with mist,
Under the sombre sky.
The frost already had fallen,
No bird seemed left to sing;
And I sighed to think of the tempests
Between us and the spring.
No bird seemed left to sing;
And I sighed to think of the tempests
Between us and the spring.
But the woodbine yet was scarlet
Where it found a place to cling;
And the old dead weeping-willow
Was draped like a splendid king.
Where it found a place to cling;
And the old dead weeping-willow
Was draped like a splendid king.
Suddenly out of the heavens,
Like sapphire sparks of light,
A flock of bluebirds swept and lit
In the woodbine garlands bright.
Like sapphire sparks of light,
A flock of bluebirds swept and lit
In the woodbine garlands bright.
69
The tree was alive in a moment
With motion, color, and song;
How gorgeous the flash of their azure wings
The blood-red leaves among!
With motion, color, and song;
How gorgeous the flash of their azure wings
The blood-red leaves among!
Beautiful, brilliant creatures!
What sudden delight they brought
Into the pallid morning,
Rebuking my dreary thought!
What sudden delight they brought
Into the pallid morning,
Rebuking my dreary thought!
Only a few days longer,
And they would have flown, to find
The wonderful, vanished summer,
Leaving darkness and cold behind.
And they would have flown, to find
The wonderful, vanished summer,
Leaving darkness and cold behind.
Oh, to flee from the bitter weather,
The winter's buffets and shocks,—
To borrow their strong, light pinions,
And follow their shining flocks!
The winter's buffets and shocks,—
To borrow their strong, light pinions,
And follow their shining flocks!
While they sought for the purple berries,
So eager and bright and glad,
I watched them, dreaming of April,
Ashamed to have been so sad.
So eager and bright and glad,
I watched them, dreaming of April,
Ashamed to have been so sad.
And I thought, “Though I cannot follow them,
I can patiently endure,
And make the best of the snow-storms,
And that is something more.
I can patiently endure,
And make the best of the snow-storms,
And that is something more.
70
“And when I see them returning,
All heaven to earth they'll bring;
And my joy will be the deeper,
For I shall have earned the spring.”
All heaven to earth they'll bring;
And my joy will be the deeper,
For I shall have earned the spring.”
| Poems for children | |