I. <br /> <br />WE stand among the fallen leaves, <br />Young children at our play, <br />And laugh to see the yellow things <br />Go rustling on their way: <br />Right merrily we hunt them down, <br />The autumn winds and we, <br />Nor pause to gaze where snow-drifts lie, <br />Or sunbeams gild the tree: <br />With dancing feet we leap along <br />Where wither'd boughs are strown; <br />Nor past nor future checks our song-- <br />The present is our own. <br />II. <br /> <br />We stand among the fallen leaves <br />In youth's enchanted spring-- <br />When Hope (who wearies at the last) <br />First spreads her eagle wing. <br />We tread with steps of conscious strength <br />Beneath the leafless trees, <br />And the colour kindles on our cheek <br />As blows the winter breeze; <br />While, gazing towards the cold grey sky, <br />Clouded with snow and rain, <br />We wish the old year all past by, <br />And the young spring come again. <br />III. <br /> <br />We stand among the fallen leaves <br />In manhood's haughty prime-- <br />When first our pausing hearts begin <br />To love 'the olden time;' <br />And, as we gaze, we sigh to think <br />How many a year hath pass'd <br />Since 'neath those cold and faded trees <br />Our footsteps wander'd last; <br />And old companions--now perchance <br />Estranged, forgot, or dead-- <br />Come round us, as those autumn leaves <br />Are crush'd beneath our tread. <br />IV. <br /> <br />We stand among the fallen leaves <br />In our own autumn day-- <br />And, tott'ring on with feeble steps, <br />Pursue our cheerless way. <br />We look not back--too long ago <br />Hath all we loved been lost; <br />Nor forward--for we may not live <br />To see our new hope cross'd: <br />But on we go--the sun's faint beam <br />A feeble warmth imparts-- <br />Childhood without its joy returns-- <br />The present fills our hearts!<br /><br />Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-fallen-leaves-2/
