WE stand among the fallen leaves, Young children at our play, And laugh to see the yellow things Go rustling on their way: Right merrily we hunt them down, The autumn winds and we, Nor pause to gaze where snow-drifts lie, Or sunbeams gild the tree: With dancing feet we leap along Where wither'd boughs are strown; Nor past nor future checks our song -- @3The present@1 is our own. We stand among the fallen leaves In youth's enchanted spring -- When hope (who wearies at the last) First spreads her eagle wing. We tread with steps of conscious strength Beneath the leafless trees, And the colour kindles in our cheek As blows the winter breeze; While, gazing towards the cold gray sky, Clouded with snow and rain, We wish the old year all past by, And the young spring come again. We stand among the fallen leaves In manhood's haughty prime -- When first our pausing hearts begin To love "the olden time;" And, as we gaze, we sigh to think How many a year hath pass'd Since neath those cold and faded trees Our footsteps wander'd last; And old companions -- now perchance Estranged, forgot, or dead -- Come round us, as those autumn leaves Are crush'd beneath our tread. We stand among the fallen leaves In our @3own@1 autumn day -- And, tottering on with feeble steps, Pursue our cheerless way. We look not back -- too long ago Hath all we loved been lost; Nor forward -- for we may not live To see our new hope cross'd: But on we go -- the sun's faint beam A feeble warmth imparts -- Childhood without its joy returns -- @3The present@1 fills our hearts! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A LEGEND OF THE NORTHLAND by PHOEBE CARY MISS KILMANSEGG AND HER PRECIOUS LEG: HER MORAL by THOMAS HOOD SOJOURN IN THE WHALE by MARIANNE MOORE LOVE LIES BLEEDING by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI SONNET: 5 by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE SATIRE: 4 by AULUS PERSIUS FLACCUS |