Page:Soldier poets, songs of the fighting men, 1916.djvu/23

 JOSEPH COURTNEY

., R.A.M.C.

"As the Leaves Fall"

Autumn, 1916

ND the leaves fall. ..

The silver and the golden fall together,

A-mingled irresistibly like tears.

The low-branched elms stand idly

In all the full-leaved glory of their life:

Yet here and there a yellow flake slips slowly,

And the branch, where once it hung, lies bare.

Below they lie—the golden fruits of day.

And a soft spirit of the night

Weaves the white spell of sleep about their feet.

And the leaves fall. ..

The great sleep of the trees is nigh:

The flowers are dead.

Yet through the fine-spun web of mist

Gleams faintly Michael's pale blue star. . ..

A time of sad soul-hunger, unspeakable desire,

That clutches at the heart and drags the soul!

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