Gladdening the pathway in sunshine or shade.
But they have budded and blossomed to fall,
Summer birds answer no more to the call,
They are gone—and the wail of the chill wintry blast
Sweeps like the sound of a requiem past.
E’en as the seasons my life-tale has been,
Sunshine has lightened up many a scene;
Sometimes the hours seemed all brightness and joy,
Cloudless and calm as a sweet summer sky;
Sometimes the beauty fled swiftly away,