Autumn Warnings.
1 See the leaves around us falling,
Dry and withered, to the ground;
Thus to thoughtless mortals calling,
In a sad and solemn sound:--
2 "Youth, on length of days presuming,
Who the paths of pleasure tread,--
View us, late in beauty blooming,
Numbered now among the dead.
3 "What though yet no losses grieve you,
Gay with health and many a grace,
Let not cloudless skies deceive you:
Summer gives to autumn place."
4 On the tree of life eternal,
Let our highest hopes be staid:
This alone, forever vernal,
Bears a leaf that shall not fade.