Thus our endeavor may fail of its prize—
Hope and ambition drop cold from our skies;
Yet on the pathway, so lonely and drear,
Rugged with failure and clouded by fear,
Spirits of beauty come out of defeat,
Cover life's sorrows and shield its retreat—
Healing the heart as the fall of the snow
Brightens the darkness of winter below.
Hope and ambition drop cold from our skies;
Yet on the pathway, so lonely and drear,
Rugged with failure and clouded by fear,
Spirits of beauty come out of defeat,
Cover life's sorrows and shield its retreat—
Healing the heart as the fall of the snow
Brightens the darkness of winter below.
O, when the Angel of Silence has brushed
Me with his wings, and this pining is hushed,
Tenderly, graciously, light as the snow,
Fall the kind mention of all that I know—
Words that will cover and whiten the sod,
Folding the life that was given of God;
Wayward may be, and persistent to rove—
Restful, at last, in the glamour of love!
Me with his wings, and this pining is hushed,
Tenderly, graciously, light as the snow,
Fall the kind mention of all that I know—
Words that will cover and whiten the sod,
Folding the life that was given of God;
Wayward may be, and persistent to rove—
Restful, at last, in the glamour of love!
AUTUMN LEAVES
Oh, droop, sky of Autumn, chaste azure-browed Queen—
Droop and whisper the leaves a good-bye!
For thy cloud-woven bridal-veil decks thee, I ween,
As the bride of bold Winter, sweet sky ;
To his gloom-haunted fortunes, and cold couch of storms,
To his frowns and rude buffets, and ice-bristling arms,
We resign thee in sadness—good-bye!
Droop and whisper the leaves a good-bye!
For thy cloud-woven bridal-veil decks thee, I ween,
As the bride of bold Winter, sweet sky ;
To his gloom-haunted fortunes, and cold couch of storms,
To his frowns and rude buffets, and ice-bristling arms,
We resign thee in sadness—good-bye!
