When Spring with fragrant breath and flower-wreathed tresses
Returns with dewdrops in her silken locks,
With lavish hands the frozen woods she blesses
And the mad cataracts leap o'er the rocks;
The tiny lake beneath the oak's gaunt branches
Shall overflow her rim,
While eddying circles whirl in graceful dances,
And dainty violets wreathe her mossy brim;
Then the proud fir in vernal gladness carries
Above her dark green branches, lighter plumes,
The forests change their bright madroña berries
For manzanita blooms.
But now they lie in Autumn's pensive glory,
Like the bright sunset of a shorter day
That only burns to end the beauteous story
And pass away;
So all these gleaming flames of gold and amber
A sad, sweet theme pervades,
Down shining steeps, the gloaming shadows clamber
And the bright sunset fades;
So o'er these Autumn woods, now robed in splendor,
Winter will spread his pall;
The lonely pines in sighings soft and tender
Shall mourn their fall.
Returns with dewdrops in her silken locks,
With lavish hands the frozen woods she blesses
And the mad cataracts leap o'er the rocks;
The tiny lake beneath the oak's gaunt branches
Shall overflow her rim,
While eddying circles whirl in graceful dances,
And dainty violets wreathe her mossy brim;
Then the proud fir in vernal gladness carries
Above her dark green branches, lighter plumes,
The forests change their bright madroña berries
For manzanita blooms.
But now they lie in Autumn's pensive glory,
Like the bright sunset of a shorter day
That only burns to end the beauteous story
And pass away;
So all these gleaming flames of gold and amber
A sad, sweet theme pervades,
Down shining steeps, the gloaming shadows clamber
And the bright sunset fades;
So o'er these Autumn woods, now robed in splendor,
Winter will spread his pall;
The lonely pines in sighings soft and tender
Shall mourn their fall.
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