The first dead leaves of the year are down! Look, how pale they float, Under the bridge of the market-town By wharf and barge and boat! How cold the rain-drenched meadows lie, Heavy with mist each one! And the elm-trees stand how silently Against the horizon! Oh, Love, oh, Life, most strange, most blind Are our days beneath the sun! A leaf on the water; on the wind A feather -- and all is done. The market-town still sleeps -- Sweet Christ, How motionless it seems! As if one night of rain sufficed To cover it with dreams. Can it be only yesterday, On this same bridge I stood, And watched the red sun sink away Behind a fairy wood? The gods protect us all! So soon Can summer cease? So light Can they drift, the leaves that played love's tune? Can the world end in a night? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DRIVING INTO LARAMIE by JAMES GALVIN THE OCTOROON by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON THE POET; SONNET by AMY LOWELL |