 | Leaves of life |  |
ix
[‘The leaves of life are falling one by one’—]
‘The leaves of life are falling one by one’—
The woods once thick and green are brown and sere;
And youth with all her bounteous hours is done,
And age is here.
The woods once thick and green are brown and sere;
And youth with all her bounteous hours is done,
And age is here.
‘The leaves of life are falling one by one’—
And one by one the heavy hours fall past,
And the glad hours we prayed might ne'er be gone,
Are gone at last.
And one by one the heavy hours fall past,
And the glad hours we prayed might ne'er be gone,
Are gone at last.
‘The leaves of life are falling one by one’—
Old dreams, old friends, we watch them fall away;
And all our music takes a minor tone,
Our skies grow gray.
Old dreams, old friends, we watch them fall away;
And all our music takes a minor tone,
Our skies grow gray.
‘The leaves of life are falling one by one’—
Best, worst, loved, hated, happy days and sad,
Each the inevitable course has run,
The present had.
Best, worst, loved, hated, happy days and sad,
Each the inevitable course has run,
The present had.
‘The leaves of life are falling one by one’—
Till, after all the gladness and the strife,
We see the redness of the setting sun
Light up our life.
Till, after all the gladness and the strife,
We see the redness of the setting sun
Light up our life.
x
And good seems not so good—ill not so ill;
And things look other than they used to seem;
Ourselves more vague, questions of fate and will
Less like a dream.
And things look other than they used to seem;
Ourselves more vague, questions of fate and will
Less like a dream.
And then why leaves should fall we think we know,
Because the autumn comes before the spring—
The Eternal Spring, when flowers will always blow,
Birds always sing.
Because the autumn comes before the spring—
The Eternal Spring, when flowers will always blow,
Birds always sing.
| Leaves of life | |