Oh Autumn, sweet sad Autumn queen,
With robe of golden brown,
Our hearts are bowed with grief and pain,
As each leaf flutters down.
In every drooping flow'ret,
In every leafless tree,
By warbling birds deserted,
We find some trace of thee.
Thou'rt lovely, oh, so lovely,
And yet how brief thy stay,
Why is it all things beautiful
Must droop and fade away?
All, all thy gorgeous painted leaves,
With colors bright and gay,
Were touched by nature's magic brush,
Then rudely cast away.
And thus our dearest hopes are crushed,
By fate's relentless will,
Like withered leaves they pass away—
But peace, sad heart, be still.
Thou too must breast the adverse wind,
Be wildly tempest-tossed,
Perhaps when thou art hushed in death,
Thou'lt meet the loved and lost.
But for this sweetly, solemn thought
That thrills us with delight,
This life, so marred by grief and pain,
Could never seem so bright.
Then welcome, sweet, sad Autumn days,
Though brief the hallowed reign,
For every smile must have its tear,
And every joy its pain.
A TIME FOR ALL THINGS.
BY ELLEN COYN,
Of the Arkansas Institution.