A cloudless sky once more is ours,

With all its depth of blue,

Bright as the tint of sapphire flowers

When bathed in morning dew;

And verdant leaves and blossoms fair

Live in the balmy summer air.

On hill, in valley, field and grove,

From thousand trembling sprays,

In notes of happiness and love

Blythe warblers pour their lays;

And glad bees round the flowrets hum

For joy that summer's reign is come.

But not the glorious azure sky,

Gay flowers, nor foliage green,

Nor happy songster's melody,

Which animates the scene,

Nor all I hear, nor all I see

Can bring life's summer back to me.

The mists of autumn gather round,

My leaf is wan and sere,

My spirit hears the hollow sound

Of wintry winds draw near;

Those winds which, while they loudest rave,

Portend the silence of the grave.

Yet sometimes, e’en amid the gloom

Of autumn's later days,

Some ling’ring flowers burst forth in bloom,

To greet its parting rays,

Like smiles that break through glistening tears,

Or cherish’d hopes through chilling fears.

Such the reflected lustre flung

By memory o’er my soul,

Borrow’d from hours when life was young,

And knew not grief 's control;

When all without, whose charms might win.

Its brightest mirror found within.

And such, I fain would hope, the gleams

Which greet my mental eye,

Whose splendour far outshines the beams

Which gild the eastern sky;

Bright gleams of hope, whose heavenward ray

Leads on to faith's more perfect day.

While memory thus, in visions fond,

Can call back former years;

While Hope's meek glance can look beyond

This transient vale of tears,

THE PAST, THE FUTURE may atone

For all THE PRESENT can make known.

And e’en in autumn's pensive mood,

With winter's clouds in sight,

My quiet thoughts may calmly brood

O’er hours more blest and bright,

When heaven's unclouded spring may shine,

And more than summer's light be mine.