Once on an autumn day as I reposed Beneath a noon-beam, pallid yet not dull, The branch above my head dipt itself full Of that white sunshine momently, and closed; While, ever and anon, the ashen keys Dropt down beside the tarnished hollyhocks, The scarlet crane's-bill, and the faded stocks, - Flung from the shuffling leafage by the breeze. How wistfully I marked the year's decay, Forecasting all the dreary wind and rain; 'Twas the last week the swallow would remain - How jealously I watched his circling play! A few brief hours, and he would dart away, No more to turn upon himself again. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DOMESDAY BOOK: GREGORY WENNER by EDGAR LEE MASTERS THE STORY OF THE ASHES AND THE FLAME by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON BROODING GRIEF by DAVID HERBERT LAWRENCE THE MYSTIC TRUMPETER by WALT WHITMAN MORNING STAR by HARRIET R. BEAN |