AN ODE .
Scene...E VENING ...A Wood in Autumn.
Ah! see where the leaves are all falling around,
And the forest looks ragged and bare;
So the vigor of man only tends to the ground,...
After summer's the winter of care.
Let me catch from the scenery, gloomy and sad,
A theme for the children of grief;
For common to all, whether sorry or glad,
Is the fate of the Fall of the Leaf.
Ye beauties high finished, all grace and delight,
Oh! be not of these quite so vain;
For to you will come age, diseases, and night;
Debility, sickness, and pain.
Presume not on what is unstable, ye fair,
For your fine white and red will be brief;
But manage your beauties with prudence and care;
And provide 'gainst the Fall of the Leaf.
And ye, sons of mammon, adores of gold,
Here see the vile end of your care;
Yourselves in the leafless stript branches behold;
For thus you'll be left sad and bare.
Your riches, wide spreading, will from you depart,
And to thousands perhaps give relief;
And this thought harrows up your gold-hoarding heart,...
They must fly like the Fall of the Leaf.
Ye children of honour, of power, and praise,
Full of fancied and self-puff'd up worth,
O! see 'tis the same fickle wind that can raise,
That dashes you down to the earth.
Ye Kings, and ye Consuls, your reign's insecure,
Your state and your tyranny brief,
For to gladden the hearts of the good and the poor,
You must fall too as falleth the Leaf.
Ye young, gay, and splendid, whose blood mantles high,
In whose features beam health's ardent ray,
Ah! seize with avidity each licens'd joy,
And frolic and sport while 'tis May;
For December will come, all hoary and sad,
And bring its full measure of grief,
When the spirits, no longer exulting and glad,
Shall flag, droop, and fall like the Leaf.
Ye lovers, who riot on beauty's bright form,
Each endearment that's mental who taste;
Ah! ye too may know the terrible storm,
That lays all your happiness waste;
Death seizes relentless, the loving, and loved,
(I've known such a trial of grief;)
Then each happy prospect is far, far removed,
Of the tree of bliss then falls the leaf.
But let not discouragement dwell on the face,
Nor begloom the pursuits of the wise;
For such should with chearfulness run thro' their race,
Who from falsehood are free, and disguise;
And those, who wise acting on rectitude's plan;
Will in every state find relief,
Will rejoice and exult in the vigour of man,
Nor despond in the Fall of the Leaf.
Thus, surrounded by objects all cheerless and sad,
As the branches their treasures let fall;
Remembrance will dwell on the friends we have had,
To the house gone appointed for all;
One after another, they've dropped from our sight,
And loaded our bosoms with grief;
Yes, those who late flourish'd in bloom and delight,
Are gone like the Fall of the Leaf.
Busy memory dwells on endearments long past,
On scenes, fraught with every joy;
And trembles to think of the horrible blast,
That did all those endearments destroy;
To join these again where spring ever blooms,
Alone gives the anguished relief;
We shall meet you, we sigh, as we weep o'er their tombs,
Where there is no Fall of the Leaf.
To be happy and blest, thro' life's varied gale,
Let us rest on Philosophy's tree;
Still giving more canvass, or short'ning our sail,
As time and occasion may be;
With truth for our pilot, our voyage let us steer,
Whether doom'd to be tedious, or brief;
And " seek peace, and pursue it, " thro' all our career,
So shall smiles greet the Fall of the Leaf.
Scene...E VENING ...A Wood in Autumn.
Ah! see where the leaves are all falling around,
And the forest looks ragged and bare;
So the vigor of man only tends to the ground,...
After summer's the winter of care.
Let me catch from the scenery, gloomy and sad,
A theme for the children of grief;
For common to all, whether sorry or glad,
Is the fate of the Fall of the Leaf.
Ye beauties high finished, all grace and delight,
Oh! be not of these quite so vain;
For to you will come age, diseases, and night;
Debility, sickness, and pain.
Presume not on what is unstable, ye fair,
For your fine white and red will be brief;
But manage your beauties with prudence and care;
And provide 'gainst the Fall of the Leaf.
And ye, sons of mammon, adores of gold,
Here see the vile end of your care;
Yourselves in the leafless stript branches behold;
For thus you'll be left sad and bare.
Your riches, wide spreading, will from you depart,
And to thousands perhaps give relief;
And this thought harrows up your gold-hoarding heart,...
They must fly like the Fall of the Leaf.
Ye children of honour, of power, and praise,
Full of fancied and self-puff'd up worth,
O! see 'tis the same fickle wind that can raise,
That dashes you down to the earth.
Ye Kings, and ye Consuls, your reign's insecure,
Your state and your tyranny brief,
For to gladden the hearts of the good and the poor,
You must fall too as falleth the Leaf.
Ye young, gay, and splendid, whose blood mantles high,
In whose features beam health's ardent ray,
Ah! seize with avidity each licens'd joy,
And frolic and sport while 'tis May;
For December will come, all hoary and sad,
And bring its full measure of grief,
When the spirits, no longer exulting and glad,
Shall flag, droop, and fall like the Leaf.
Ye lovers, who riot on beauty's bright form,
Each endearment that's mental who taste;
Ah! ye too may know the terrible storm,
That lays all your happiness waste;
Death seizes relentless, the loving, and loved,
(I've known such a trial of grief;)
Then each happy prospect is far, far removed,
Of the tree of bliss then falls the leaf.
But let not discouragement dwell on the face,
Nor begloom the pursuits of the wise;
For such should with chearfulness run thro' their race,
Who from falsehood are free, and disguise;
And those, who wise acting on rectitude's plan;
Will in every state find relief,
Will rejoice and exult in the vigour of man,
Nor despond in the Fall of the Leaf.
Thus, surrounded by objects all cheerless and sad,
As the branches their treasures let fall;
Remembrance will dwell on the friends we have had,
To the house gone appointed for all;
One after another, they've dropped from our sight,
And loaded our bosoms with grief;
Yes, those who late flourish'd in bloom and delight,
Are gone like the Fall of the Leaf.
Busy memory dwells on endearments long past,
On scenes, fraught with every joy;
And trembles to think of the horrible blast,
That did all those endearments destroy;
To join these again where spring ever blooms,
Alone gives the anguished relief;
We shall meet you, we sigh, as we weep o'er their tombs,
Where there is no Fall of the Leaf.
To be happy and blest, thro' life's varied gale,
Let us rest on Philosophy's tree;
Still giving more canvass, or short'ning our sail,
As time and occasion may be;
With truth for our pilot, our voyage let us steer,
Whether doom'd to be tedious, or brief;
And " seek peace, and pursue it, " thro' all our career,
So shall smiles greet the Fall of the Leaf.