'O Heaven! were man
But constant, he were perfect; that one error
Fills him with faults, makes him run through all sins.'
_Two Gentlemen of Verona_
Are they truly dying,
All the summer leaves?
Will the blasts of autumn
Strip the happy trees?
Bright the glowing foliage
Paints the misty air--
Crimson, purple, golden--
Must they die--so fair?
Where has flown the sunshine
Wooed them to their birth,
Tempting them to flutter
Far above the earth?
Ruthless did it leave them
In their hour of bloom,
Let the chill blasts whisper
Tales of death and doom?
Rapidly they robed them
In each varied hue,
Hoping thus the sunshine
To attract anew;
But the fickle glitter
Looked in anger down,
Freezing up the life-pulse
With an icy frown.
Then the happy radiance
Sinks to rise no more;
Leaves of gold and crimson
Strew earth's gloomy floor.
Gone their summer glory,
Lifeless, lost, they lie;
Wilted, withered, drifting
As winds will, they fly.
Thus in woman's bosom
Love wakes bud and bloom,
'Neath his glowing sunshine
Thinking not of doom;
Covering soft life's desert
Spread the branches green,
Hope's bright birds sing through them--
Close the leafy screen.
Through the quivering foliage
Falls a sudden fear!
Leaves are rustling, trembling--
Feel _change_ drawing near!
Brighter then they robe them,
Call on every hue,
Color every fibre--
Love to win anew.
Summon gold and crimson,
Bright as dyed in blood;
Hectic fever flushes
Pour in anguished flood!
Gone the healthful quiet
Of the summer green;
Hope-birds turn to ravens,
Sighs the leafy screen.
Love looks down in anger
On the wildering show;
Freezing follows change-frost--
Love heaps ice and snow!
Then the fevered radiance
Fades from life's doomed tree;
Wilted, withered, drifting,
Bud, bloom, leaves we see.
Love looks down upon them,
Wonders how it came--
Thinks through all his changing
They should bloom the same:
Did not know his change-frost
Had the power to kill;
Did not deem his frowning
Life's quick pulse could still!
Gone the fickle sunshine!
Gone the rosy hours!
Gone love's early wooing!
Gone the healthful powers!
Come and cool the hectic,
Chill the fevered glow,
Pale the crimson flushing,
Death, beneath thy snow!