ARBOR DA Y MAX UAL. 37 



LESSON OF THE LEAVES. 



HOW do the leaves grow- 

 In spring upon their stem ? 

 The sap swells up with a drop for all, 

 And that is life to them. 



What do the leaves do 



Through the long summer hours ? 

 They make a home for the singing birds, 

 A shelter for the flowers. 



How do the leaves fade 



Beneath the autumn blast ? 

 Oh, fairer they grow before they die, 



Their brightest is their last. 



How are we like leaves? 



O children weak and small, 

 God knows each leaf of the forest shade, 



He knows you each and all. 



Never a leaf falls 



Until its part is done. 

 God gives us grace like sap and dew, 



Some work to even- one. 



You must grow old too, 



Beneath the autumn sky: 

 But lovelier and brighter your lives ma}' glow, 



Like leaves before they die. 



Brighter with kind deeds, 



With hope and gladness given; 



Till the leaf falls down from the withered tree, 

 And the spirit is in heaven ! 



UNDER the yaller pines I house, 

 When sunshine makes them all sweet scented, 

 An hear among their furry boughs 



The baskin' we"st wind purr contented. 



LOWELL, Bzglow Papers. 



