And on their graves you blossom
With leaves of gold and red,
And yet—how soon forever
Your beauty will be fled.
The frost will come to kill you
The snows will wrap you round;
And you will sleep forgotten
Upon the frozen ground.
Your tints are like the beauty
The sunlight leaves behind,
And deep and full of sadness
The thoughts you bring to mind.
Dear memories of the summer!
Sweet tokens of the past!
You are the fairest flowers
Because you are the last.
Remembrance.
Why should we dream of days gone by?
Why should we wait and wonder?
Sweet summer days have come and gone,
The leaves are falling yonder.
The wee sweet flowers we loved the best,
The king of frost has chosen;
And now the sun looks sadly down
Upon his darlings frozen.
Ah! summer sun and autumn frost,
You are at war forever;
For all the ties that one would make
The other fain would sever.
With autumn days remembrance comes
Of golden glories fleeting;
Of pleasures gone and sorrows come—
Of parting and of meeting.
Oh! summer days, why haunt us still?
Remembrance is a sorrow;
And all the dreams we dream to-day
Will fade upon the morrow.