In meeker sorrow in the vale

The gentle ash was drooping pale;

Brown-seared the walnut raised its head,

The oak displayed a lifeless red;

And grouping bass and white-wood hoar

Sadly their yellow honors bore;

And silvered birch and poplar rose

With foliage gray and weeping boughs;

But elm and stubborn beech retained

Some verdant lines, though crossed and stained,