Sweet Sabbath of the year! <br />While evening lights decay, <br />Thy parting steps methinks I hear <br />Steal from the world away. <br /> <br />Amid thy silent bowers, <br />'Tis sad, but sweet, to dwell; <br />Where falling leaves and drooping flowers <br />Around me breathe farewell. <br /> <br />Along thy sunset skies <br />Their glories melt in shade, <br />And like the things we fondly prize, <br />Seem lovelier as they fade. <br /> <br />A deep and crimson streak <br />Thy dying leaves disclose; <br />As on consumption's waning cheek <br />'Mid ruin blooms the rose. <br /> <br />Thy scene each vision brings <br />Of beauty in decay; <br />Of fair and early faded things <br />Too exquisite to stay. <br /> <br />Of joys that come no more; <br />Of flowers whose bloom is fled; <br />Of farewells wept upon the shore; <br />Of friends estranged or dead. <br /> <br />Of all that now may seem <br />To memory's tearful eye, <br />The vanish'd beauty of a dream, <br />O'er which we gaze and sigh!<br /><br />James Montgomery<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/to-the-autumn/
