Her novel, as I raised my eyes,

Dropped down amid the tall green fern.

This day and that—the one so bright,

The other like a thing forlorn;

To-morrow, and the early light 55

Will shine upon her marriage morn.

For when the mellow autumn flushed

The thickets where the chestnut fell,

And in the vales the maple blushed,

Another came who knew her well, 60