AUTUMN DAYS.

By Will Carleton

Yellow, mellow, ripened days,

Sheltered in a golden coating;

O'er the dreamy, listless haze,

White and dainty cloudlets floating;

Winking at the blushing trees,

And the sombre, furrowed fallow;

Smiling at the airy ease

Of the southward-flying swallow.

Sweet and smiling are thy ways,

Beauteous, golden, Autumn days!

Shivering, quivering, tearful days,

Fretfully and sadly weeping;

Dreading still, with anxious gaze,

Icy fetters round thee creeping;

O'er the cheerless, withered plain,

Woefully and hoarsely calling;

Pelting hail and drenching rain

On thy scanty vestments falling.

Sad and mournful are thy ways,

Grieving, wailing, Autumn days!