261
LINES.
HE noon of Autumn now with chastened mirthFalls bright and still upon the teeming earth
With all that placid calm, that tranquil glow,
The evening of the year alone can know;
For though the Spring's fresh gladness has gone by,
And Summer radiance lights no more the sky,
Yet, 'mid the wreck of glories passed away,
Still brightly fades the year's declining day,
And o'er her evening hour that charm is shed,
All own so sweet, all mourn so quickly fled.
Dost thou not, Dearest, feel the soothing power,
The holy calm that rests upon this hour?
Meet emblem, as I trust it long may prove,
Of that united lot, that path of love
We now have trod together many a year,
Through shade and sunshine, scenes of varied cheer,
Of anxious cares, of pleasures pure and bright
As this world can bestow,—the joys that light
A happy home, where love and concord dwell,
And every dear one sent the band to swell,
The holy calm that rests upon this hour?
Meet emblem, as I trust it long may prove,
Of that united lot, that path of love
We now have trod together many a year,
Through shade and sunshine, scenes of varied cheer,
Of anxious cares, of pleasures pure and bright
As this world can bestow,—the joys that light
A happy home, where love and concord dwell,
And every dear one sent the band to swell,
