The Hope of the World and other poems by Charles Mackay |
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THE AUTUMN LEAF. |
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 | The Hope of the World and other poems |  |
111
THE AUTUMN LEAF.
Pauvre feuille dessechée! où vas-tu?
—Arnault.
—Arnault.
Poor autumn leaf! down floating
Upon the blustering gale;
Torn from thy bough,
Where goest now,
Wither'd, and shrunk, and pale?
Upon the blustering gale;
Torn from thy bough,
Where goest now,
Wither'd, and shrunk, and pale?
“I go, thou sad inquirer,
As list the winds to blow,
Sear, sapless, lost,
And tempest-tost,
I go where all things go.
As list the winds to blow,
Sear, sapless, lost,
And tempest-tost,
I go where all things go.
112
“The rude winds bear me onward
As suiteth them, not me,
O'er dale, o'er hill,
Through good, through ill,
As Destiny bears thee.
As suiteth them, not me,
O'er dale, o'er hill,
Through good, through ill,
As Destiny bears thee.
“What though for me one summer,
And threescore for thy breath—
I live my span,
Thou thine, poor man!
And then adown to death!
And threescore for thy breath—
I live my span,
Thou thine, poor man!
And then adown to death!
“And thus we go together
For lofty as thy lot
And lowly mine,
My fate is thine,
To die, and be forgot!”
For lofty as thy lot
And lowly mine,
My fate is thine,
To die, and be forgot!”
| The Hope of the World and other poems | |