Cicely Fox-Smith (1882-1954). Songs of Greater Britain (1899). IV. Autumn. Alfred H. Miles, ed. 1907. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century

Alfred H. Miles, ed. Women Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.

Songs of Greater Britain (1899)
IV. Autumn

By Cicely Fox-Smith (1882–1954)


STERN Time hath banished with a frown
The summer, now grown wan and old;
In grief the woodlands lay adown
Their crowns of gold.

No more the copses echo round	5
With stockdove’s moan and woodwren’s lay;
To gladden distant shores with sound
They wing their way.

The wild winds shudder thro’ the trees,
Where late the redstart’s carol rang;	10
The torn nests wanton with the breeze
Where sweet birds sang.

The sere, sad leaves, their glory done,
Fall from the bough to meet the wave:
The stream they shadowed from the sun	15
Gives them a grave.