Classic and Contemporary Poetry
BEFORE THE LEAVES FALL, by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER Poet's Biography First Line: I wonder if oak and maple Last Line: May come through the ripening frost. Alternate Author Name(s): Van Deth, Gerrit, Mrs. Subject(s): Leaves; Nature | ||||||||
I WONDER if oak and maple, Willow and elm and all, Are stirred at heart by the coming Of the day their leaves must fall. Do they think of the yellow whirlwind, Or know of the crimson spray, That shall be when chill November Bears all their leaves away? Perhapsbeside the water The willow bends, serene As when her young leaves glistened In a mist of golden green; But the brave old oak is flushing To a wine-red, dark and deep, And maple and elm are blushing The blush of a child asleep. "If die we must," the leaflets Seem one by one to say; "We will wear the colors of gladness Until we pass away. No eyes shall see us falter; And, before we lay it down, We 'll wear, in the sight of all the earth, The year's most kingly crown." So, trees of the stately forest, And trees by the trodden way, You are kindling into glory This soft autumnal day. And we who gaze remember That more than all they lost, To hearts and trees together, May come through the ripening frost. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...INTERRUPTED MEDITATION by ROBERT HASS TWO VIEWS OF BUSON by ROBERT HASS THE FATALIST: HOME by LYN HEJINIAN WRITING IS AN AID TO MEMORY: 17 by LYN HEJINIAN LET US GATHER IN A FLOURISHING WAY by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA IN MICHAEL ROBINS?ÇÖS CLASS MINUS ONE by HICOK. BOB BREADTH. CIRCLE. DESERT. MONARCH. MONTH. WISDOM by JOHN HOLLANDER VARIATIONS: 16 by CONRAD AIKEN UNHOLY SONNET 13 by MARK JARMAN ARE THE CHILDREN AT HOME? by MARGARET ELIZABETH MUNSON SANGSTER |
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