Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, DEAD AUTUMN, by BEULAH ALLYNE BELL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

DEAD AUTUMN, by                    
First Line: So harsh the tolling of the wind
Last Line: Of wild confetti in a faded leaf!
Subject(s): Autumn; Seasons; Fall


So harsh the tolling of the wind
For Autumn's new solemnities --
As if a gypsy wanton sinned
Who won the eternal homage of the trees!

The river aisle, the willow arch
Have ever been her secret church,
Where now the white cortege will march
To meet the chancel of a hermit birch.

The dignity of death is hers --
And yet, when all the prayers are said,
A blithesome spirit lightly stirs
The folded, frost-pearled cerements of the dead.

A paean rises in the wood ...
Tall oak trees Autumn loved the best
Release a flock of snow-doves ... Could
A leaf have fallen, dancing, on her breast?

What matter ice and whirling snow,
And death, and passion's winter grief,
When shroud may wear the afterglow
Of wild confetti in a faded leaf!





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