I I STRAYED, all alone, where the Autumn Had swept, in her petulant wrath: All the flowers, that had bloomed in the garden, She had gathered, and flung in her path. And I saw the dead face of the lily, Struck down, by the rain and the sleet, And the pink, with her lashes yet weeping, Drooped low in the dust, at my feet. II The leaves on the branches still swinging, Were blanched with the crimson of death; And the vines that still clung to the trellis, Were palsied, and shook at a breath. And I sighed: "So hath fate, like the Autumn, Swept over my path, till I see, As I walk through life's desolate garden Not a rose is left blooming for me!" III "Heigho!" said a voice of low laughter -- "How blind are you poets!" And there, At the gate, just in front of me, leaning, Stood Rosalind May, I declare! I stammered, confused, for the moment; But was blest for the rest of my life, For my Rose of October there promised She'd bloom for me aye, as -- my wife. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...FOR OUR BETTER GRACES by JAMES GALVIN ON THE DEATH OF SWINBURNE by SARA TEASDALE THE CLOD AND THE PEBBLE, FR. SONGS OF EXPERIENCE by WILLIAM BLAKE ALONZO THE BRAVE AND THE FAIR IMOGINE by MATTHEW GREGORY LEWIS |