THE LESSON OF THE LEAVES = 343 
THE LESSON OF THE LEAVES 
O tHov who bearest on thy thoughtful face 
The wearied calm that follows after grief, 
See how the autumn guides each loosened 
leaf 
To sure repose in its own sheltered place. 
Ah, not forever whirl they in the race 
Of wild forlornness round the gathered sheaf, 
Or hurrying onward in a rapture brief 
Spin o’er the moorlands into trackless space. 
Some hollow captures each; some sheltering 
wall 
Arrests the wanderer on its aimless way ; 
The autumn’s pensive beauty needs them all, 
And winter finds them warm, though sere and 
gray. 
They nurse young blossoms for the spring’s 
sweet call, 
And shield new leaflets for the burst of May. 
