This Canada of ours and other poems/Canadian Autumn Tints

by James David Edgar

 

CANADIAN AUTUMN TINTS.

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We wandered off together,
 We walked in dreamful ease,
In mellow autumn weather,
 Past autumn-tinted trees;
The breath of soft September
 Left fragrance in the air,
And well do I remember,
 I thought you true as fair.

The maples' deep carnations,
 The beeches' silv'ry sheen,
Hid nature's sad mutations,
 And I forgot the green:
Forgot the green of summer,
 The buds of early spring,
And gave the latest comer
 My false heart's offering.

O painted autumn roses!
 O dying autumn leaves!
Your beauty fades and closes,
 That gaudy hue deceives:
Like clouds that gather golden
 Around the setting sun,
Your glories are beholden
 Just ere the day is done.

Or, like th' electric flushes
 That fire Canadian skies,
Your bright and changeful blushes
 In gold and crimson rise.
But health has long departed
 From all that hectic glare;
And love sees, broken-hearted,
 The fate that's pictured there.

The brush that paints so brightly
 No mortal artist wields;
He touches all things lightly,
 But sweeps the broadest fields.
The fairest flowers are chosen
 To wither at his breath;
The hand is cold and frozen
 That paints those hues of death.

We wandered back together,
 With hearts but ill at ease,
In mellow autumn weather,
 Past autumn-tinted trees;
The breath of soft September
 Left fragrance in the air,
And well we both remember
 The love that ended there.