  Autumn, thy rushing blast Sweeps in wild eddies by, Whirling the sear leaves past, Beneath my feet, to die. Nature her requiem sings In many a plaintive tone, As to the wind she flings Sad music, all her own. The murmur of the rill Is hoarse and sullen now, And the voice of joy is still In grove and leafy bough. Of all Spring's thousand flowers, To strew her bier in death, Or deck her faded bowers. I hear a spirit sigh Where the meeting pines resound, Which tells me all must die, As the leaf dies on the ground. The brightest hopes we cherish, Which own a mortal trust, But bloom awhile to perish And moulder in the dust. Sweep on, thou rushing wind, Thou art music to mine ear, Awakening in my mind A voice I love to hear. Send forth a tender moan; Like the wail above the dead Is that sad and solemn tone. Though all things perish here, The spirit cannot die, It owns a brighter sphere, A home in yon fair sky. The soul will flee away, And when the silent clod Enfolds my mouldering clay, Shall live again with God; Where Autumn's chilly blast Shall never strip the bowers, Or icy Winter cast A blight upon the flowers; For ever flourish there, And the children of the tomb Forget this world of care.— The children who have passed Death's tideless ocean o'er, And Hope's blest anchor cast On that bright eternal shore; Who sought, through Him who bled Their erring race to save, A Sun, whose beams shall shed A light upon the grave! |
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