AFTER THE VINTAGE

How can my vineyard's charm be told,

As it basks in the autumn haze?

The Frost King's touch, so light and cold,

Like that of the Persian king of old,

Hath turned its roof from green to gold,

Till the hillside seems ablaze.

Threading its maze of arbors fair

Under its saffron bowers,

I watch, in the crisp, November air,

Through vine-framed openings here and there

The ivied walls of castles rare

And ruined Roman towers.

Sapphire blue is the cloudless sky,

White are the mountain walls,

Rainbow-hued are the tints that lie

Lavishly spread on the forests high,

Where leaves by millions flame and die,

As the chill of Autumn falls.

Over the slopes in sun and shade

The terraced vines descend,

Like stately steps of a broad cascade,

Or an amphitheatre's seats, arrayed

In folds of sumptuous, gold brocade,

Where red and amber blend.

I love to see, from the rising sun

Each terrace gain its crown,

When the splendid dawn hath just begun,

From the crest of the mountain it hath won,

To gild the vine-rows one by one,

As the mellow glow creeps down.

And when the day's receding light

Deserts the vale below,

I trace its noiseless, upward flight

Through darkening zones of foliage bright,

Till all the world is lost in night

Save pyramids of snow.