tree,
And a butterfly flitted across the field,
And all the leaves were calling me.

And the wind went sighing over the land,
Tossing the grasses to and fro,
And a rainbow held out its shining hand--
So what could I do but laugh and go?

"HOW FAST THE YEAR IS GOING BY"

How fast the year is going by!
Love, it will be September soon;
O let us make the best of June.
Already, love, it is July;
The rose and honeysuckle go,
And all too soon will come the snow.

Dark berries take the place of flowers,
Of summer August still remains,
Then sad September with her rains.
O love, how short a year is ours--
So swiftly does the summer fly,
Scarce time is left to say goodbye.

AUGUST MOONLIGHT

The solemn light behind the barns,
The rising moon, the cricket's call,
The August night, and you and I--
What is the meaning of it all!

Has it a meaning, after all?
Or is it one of Nature's lies,
That net of beauty that she casts
Over Life's unsuspecting eyes?

That web of beauty that she weaves
For one strange purpose of her own,--
For this the painted butterfly,
For this the rose--for this alone!

Strange repetition of the rose,
And strange reiterated call
Of bird and insect, man and maid,--
Is that the meaning of it all?

If it means nothing, after all!
And nothing lives, except to die--
It is enough--that solemn light
Behind the barns, and you and I.

TO A ROSE

O rose! forbear to flaunt yourself,
All bloom and dew--
I once, sad-hearted as I am,
Was young as you.

But, one by one, the petals fell
Earthward to rot;
Only a berry testifies
A rose forgot.

INVITATION

Unless you come while still the world is green,
A place of birds and the blue dreaming sea,
In vain has all the singing summer been,
Unless you come, and share it all with me.

Ah! come, ere August flames its heart away,
Ere, like a golden widow, autumn goes
Across the woodlands, sad with thoughts of May,
An aster in her bosom for a rose.

SUMMER GOING

Crickets calling,
Apples falling.

Summer dying,
Life is flying.

So soon over--
Love and lover.

AUTUMN TREASURE

Who will gather with me the fallen year,
This drift of forgotten forsaken leaves,
Ah! who give ear
To the sigh October heaves
At summer's passing by!
Who will come walk with me
On this Persian carpet of purple and gold
The weary autumn weaves,
And be as sad as I?
Gather the wealth of t