Volume 15 — MY AUTUMN WALK.

On woodlands ruddy with autumn The amber sunshine lies; I look on the beauty round me, And tears come into my eyes. For the wind that sweeps the meadows Blows out of the far South-west, Where our gallant men are fighting, And the gallant dead are at rest. The golden-rod is leaning And the purple aster waves In a breeze from the land of battles, A breath from the land of graves. Full fast the leaves are dropping Before that wandering breath; As fast, on the field of battle, Our brethren fall in death. Beautiful over my pathway The forest spoils are shed; They are spotting the grassy hillocks With purple and gold and red. Beautiful is the death-sleep Of those who bravely fight In their country's holy quarrel, And perish for the Right. But who shall comfort the living, The light of whose homes is gone: The bride, that, early widowed, Lives broken-hearted on; The matron, whose sons are lying In graves on a distant shore; The maiden, whose promised husband Comes back from the war no more? I look on the peaceful dwellings Whose windows glimmer in sight, With croft and garden and orchard That bask in the mellow light; And I know, that, when our couriers With news of victory come, They will bring a bitter message Of hopeless grief to some. Again I turn to the woodlands, And shudder as I see The mock-grape's[B] blood-red banner Hung out on the cedar-tree; And I think of days of slaughter, And the night-sky red with flames, On the Chattahoochee's meadows, And the wasted banks of the James. Oh, for the fresh spring-season, When the groves are in their prime, And far away in the future Is the frosty autumn-time! Oh, for that better season, When the pride of the foe shall yield, And the hosts of God and freedom March back from the well-won field; And the matron shall clasp her first-born With tears of joy and pride; And the scarred and war-worn lover Shall claim his promised bride! The leaves are swept from the branches; But the living buds are there, With folded flower and foliage, To sprout in a kinder air.