Earnest and sad the solemn tale
That the sighing winds give back,
Scattring the leaves with mournful wail
Oer the forests faded track;
Gay summer birds have left us now
For a warmer, brighter clime,
Where no leaden sky or leafless bough
Tell of change and winter-time.
Reapers have gathered golden store
Of maize and ripened grain,
And theyll seek the lonely fields no more
Till the springtide comes again.
But around the homesteads blazing hearth
Will they find sweet rest from toil,
And many an hour of harmless mirth
While the snow-storm piles the soil.
Then, why should we grieve for summer skies
For its shady treesits flowers,
Or the thousand light and pleasant ties
That endeared the sunny hours?
A few short months of snow and storm,
Of winters chilling reign,
And summer, with smiles and glances warm,
Will gladden our earth again.
