Reflections on a tree in Autumn.
The tree, with its leaves in luxuriance shading
My path in the tune-yielding time of the year,
Now sighs in its dirge, while its foliage, fading,
Descends to its sepulchre withered and sere.
And yet I regard it with feelings the fonder,
With feelings of mingled compassion and pain,
As in pity I gaze on its branches, and ponder
Of once fragrant beauty what fragments remain.
For that barren tree with adornment so fleeting,
That blows in the autumn wind bleak and forlorn,
Bespeaks the sad state of a heart that is beating,
Bereft of the pleasures that once it has borne.
A Parting.
Has the last farewell been spoken?
Have I ta'en the parting token
From thy lips so sweet?
Has their last soft word been spoken
Till again we meet?
Why is not thy hand extended?
Is my maiden queen offended?
Or does she forget?
No! my queen is not offended,
She is kindly yet.
For her eye is softly beaming,
And with tenderness is teeming,
Gentle as the dove's:
With a holy light is beaming—
Dare I call it love's?