Since Summer's garishness is gone,

Some grains of night tincture the noontide air.

Behold! the shadows of the trees

Now circle wider 'bout their stem,

Like sentries that by slow degrees

Perform their rounds, gently protecting them.

And as the year doth decline,

The sun allows a scantier light;

Behind each needle of the pine

There lurks a small auxiliar to the night.