Poems (Jordan)/In Autumn
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For works with similar titles, see In Autumn.
IN AUTUMN
How strange it seems, in Life's cool autumn days,
To visit once again the altar where
Youth's dreams were burned, as cruelly Despair
His torch applied before our frenzied gaze!
How strange the touch, as we the ashes raise
In gloveless hands, and with caressing care
Sift them back to their mem'ry-measured place!
How tenderly the heart its off'ring lays
Upon the scorch-stained stone—its offering
Of gathered tears! How it lives o'er that scene
In each small detail, as 'neath brassy skies,
It sees the fire spread wide its smoky wing,
To bear beyond all reach what might have been
Had dreams escaped the glance of waking eyes!
To visit once again the altar where
Youth's dreams were burned, as cruelly Despair
His torch applied before our frenzied gaze!
How strange the touch, as we the ashes raise
In gloveless hands, and with caressing care
Sift them back to their mem'ry-measured place!
How tenderly the heart its off'ring lays
Upon the scorch-stained stone—its offering
Of gathered tears! How it lives o'er that scene
In each small detail, as 'neath brassy skies,
It sees the fire spread wide its smoky wing,
To bear beyond all reach what might have been
Had dreams escaped the glance of waking eyes!