Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his Circle/Autumn Leaves

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AUTUMN LEAVES.

(Verses for a picture)

Fast fall the leaves, blown by the Autumn blast,
In swirling heaps on the green sward they lie,
Sweet memories of the Springtime greenery
And the golden glories of Summer past.
 
The last red flushes of the sinking sun
Shed over all a wondrous mystery,
On toil-worn age nearing eternity,
And the young hearts whose lives are but begun.
 
And with departing light the conscience grieves
O'er bygone days, and golden hours misspent
In selfish deeds and empty merriment,
To find, where fruit should be, but withered leaves.

February 27, 1891.