Gold Leaves

by Gilbert Keith Chesterton

Lo! I am come to autumn,
     When all the leaves are gold;
Grey hairs and golden leaves cry out
     The year and I are old.

In youth I sought the prince of men,
     Captain in cosmic wars,
Our Titan, even the weeds would show
     Defiant, to the stars.

But now a great thing in the street
     Seems any human nod,
Where shift in strange democracy
     The million masks of God.

In youth I sought the golden flower
     Hidden in wood or wold,
But I am come to autumn,
     When all the leaves are gold.