Earnest and sad the solemn tale <br />That the sighing winds give back, <br />Scatt’ring the leaves with mournful wail <br />O’er the forest’s faded track; <br />Gay summer birds have left us now <br />For a warmer, brighter clime, <br />Where no leaden sky or leafless bough <br />Tell of change and winter-time. <br /> <br />Reapers have gathered golden store <br />Of maize and ripened grain, <br />And they’ll seek the lonely fields no more <br />Till the springtide comes again. <br />But around the homestead’s blazing hearth <br />Will they find sweet rest from toil, <br />And many an hour of harmless mirth <br />While the snow-storm piles the soil. <br /> <br />Then, why should we grieve for summer skies— <br />For its shady trees—its flowers, <br />Or the thousand light and pleasant ties <br />That endeared the sunny hours? <br />A few short months of snow and storm, <br />Of winter’s chilling reign, <br />And summer, with smiles and glances warm, <br />Will gladden our earth again.<br /><br />Rosanna Eleanor Leprohon<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-fall-of-the-leaf/
