FLOWER AND FLAME.

BETWEEN the flowering and the flaming woods,
          All greening in the rain,
               The fields unfold;
          The sun upon the grain
               Outpours its gold,

And sweet with bloom and dew are nature’s moods
Between the flowering and the flaming woods.

Between the flaming and the flowering woods
          The wind bemoans a host
               Of withered leaves;

          The winter is a ghost
               That grieves and grieves
Around a ruined house where none intrudes,
Between the flaming and the flowering woods.

O woods that break in flower or in flame,

          My wingèd days and hours
               Shall meet their doom
          Like to your leaves and flowers;
               Let not your bloom
And brightness put my flying years to shame,

O woods that break in flower or in flame! [Page 88]