| Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922. | | | | Autumn | | By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) |
| | | THOU comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain, | |
| With banners, by great gales incessant fann’d, | |
| Brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand, | |
| And stately oxen harness’d to thy wain; | |
| Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne, | 5 |
| Upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand | |
| Outstretched with benedictions o’er the land, | |
| Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain. | |
| Thy shield is the red harvest moon, suspended | |
| So long beneath the heaven’s o’erhanging eaves; | 10 |
| Thy steps are by the farmer’s prayers attended; | |
| Like flames upon an altar shine the sheaves; | |
| And, following thee, in thy ovation splendid, | |
| Thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves! | | | | |
|
|
