168
AUTUMN.
I knew her peer could never be found in palace or hall,
And my white face told my thought, but she saw it not.
She was crushing some scarlet leaves in her dainty fingers of snow,
Her maiden joy crowning her face with a radiant glow.
And my white face told my thought, but she saw it not.
She was crushing some scarlet leaves in her dainty fingers of snow,
Her maiden joy crowning her face with a radiant glow.
"She had wanted me to know," and then a smile and a blush;
Her smile was always just like a baby's smile, and the red
Came to her cheek at a word or a glance-then there fell a hush.
She was waiting some word from me, I knew, so I said,
"May Heaven bless you both"—words spoken full quietly,
And she, God bless her, never knew how much they cost to me.
Her smile was always just like a baby's smile, and the red
Came to her cheek at a word or a glance-then there fell a hush.
She was waiting some word from me, I knew, so I said,
"May Heaven bless you both"—words spoken full quietly,
And she, God bless her, never knew how much they cost to me.
How the sumac banners bent, dripping as if with blood,
What a mournful presence brooded upon the slumbrous air;
A mocking-bird screamed noisily in the depths of the silent. wood,
And in my heart was crying the raven of despair,
Thrilling my being through with its desolate, desolate cry—
"It were better to die, it were better to die."
What a mournful presence brooded upon the slumbrous air;
A mocking-bird screamed noisily in the depths of the silent. wood,
And in my heart was crying the raven of despair,
Thrilling my being through with its desolate, desolate cry—
"It were better to die, it were better to die."
The white dawn follows the darkness; out of the years' decay
Shineth the golden fire that gildeth the autumn with light;
Shineth the golden fire that gildeth the autumn with light;
