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The poetical writings of Elizabeth Oakes Smith

Second edition
Smith, Elizabeth Oakes Prince (1806-1893)

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THE SINLESS CHILD.
  
INSCRIPTION.
 1. 
PART I.
 2. 
PART II.
 3. 
PART III.
 4. 
PART IV.
 5. 
PART V.
 6. 
PART VI.
 7. 
PART VII.
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SONNETS.
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THE POET'S LIFE, IN SIX SONNETS.
 1. 
I. POESY.
 2. 
II. THE BARD.
 3. 
III. THE UNATTAINED.
 4. 
IV. RELIGION.
 5. 
V. A DREAM.
 6. 
VI. AN INCIDENT.
 7. 
VII. ERROR.
 8. 
VIII. MENTAL SOLITUDE.
 9. 
IX. DISTRUST.
 10. 
X. ILLUSTRATION OF A CAMEO:
 11. 
XI. THE RUSTIC.
 12. 
XII. THE RUSTIC.
 13. 
XIII. WAYFARERS.
 14. 
XIV. TWILIGHT
 15. 
XV. TO THE OPAL.
 16. 
XVI. DUTY.
 17. 
XVII. THE PILGRIM.
 18. 
XVIII. SYMPATHY.
 16. 
XIX. SYMPATHY.
 20. 
XX. SELF RENUNCIATION.
 21. 
XXI. TO THE HUDSON.
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LIFE.
 22. 
XXII. CHILDHOOD.
 23. 
XXIII. YOUTH.
 24. 
XXIV. MANHOOD.
 25. 
XXV. OLD AGE.
 26. 
XXVI. LIFE-LONG MARTYRDOM.
 27. 
XXVII. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT.
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ATHEISM,
 28. 
XXVIII. FAITH.
 29. 
XXIX. REASON.
 30. 
XXX. ANNIHILATION
  
THE ACORN.
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MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.
  
THE APRIL RAIN.
  
THE WATER.
  
THE PARK FOUNTAIN.
  
THE LAST SHOT.
  
“THOU HAST LOVED.”
  
PRESAGES.
  
THE LOVE OF LADY ANN.
  
CHILDHOOD'S LAUGH.
  
THE CHILD AND THE ROSE.
  
TO A BABE.
  
THE CHILD'S BENEDICTION.
  
LOVE SHELTERED.
  
THE GUARDIAN ANGEL.
  
THE FIRST LEAF OF AUTUMN.
  
MINISTERING SPIRITS.
  
FAREWELL TO FANCY.
  
THE ELEVENTH HOUR.
  
THE APPEAL.
  
THE JEWISH CAPTIVE.
  
SONG. I.
  
SONG. II.
  
SONG. III.
  
THE BROOK.
  
THE SLEEP OF PLANTS.
  
THE FLOWER OF INNOCENCE,
  
THE OLD MAN.
  
THE DROWNED MARINER.
  
THE SUMMONS ANSWERED.
  
THE TWICE-TOLD SEAL.
  
THE VOICE OF THE AGE.

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165

THE FIRST LEAF OF AUTUMN.

I see thee fall, thou quivering leaf, of faint and yellow hue,
The first to feel the autumn winds, that, blighting, o'er thee blew—
Slow-parted from the rocking branch, I see thee floating by,
To brave, all desolate and lone, the bleak autumnal sky.
Alas! the first, the yellow leaf—how sadly falls it there,
To rustle on the crispéd grass, with every chilly air!
It tells of those that soon must drop all withered from the tree,
And it hath waked a sadder chord in deathless memory.
Thou eddying leaf, away, away, there's sorrow in thy hue;
Thou soundst the knell of sunny hours, of buds, and liquid dew—
166

And thou dost tell how from the heart the blooms of hope decay;
How each one lingers, loath to part, till all are swept away.
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