| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | II. Autumnal Twilight, with Friends | | By William Allingham (1824–1889) |
| | | NOW Autumn’s fire burns slowly along the woods, | |
| And day by day the dead leaves fall and melt, | |
| And night by night the monitory blast | |
| Wails in the keyhole, telling how it passed | |
| O’er empty fields, or upland solitudes, | 5 |
| Or grim wide wave; and now the power is felt | |
| Of melancholy, tenderer in its moods | |
| Than any joy indulgent Summer dealt. | |
| Dear friends, together in the glimmering eve, | |
| Pensive and glad, with tones that recognize | 10 |
| The soft invisible dew on each one’s eyes, | |
| It may be, somewhat thus we shall have leave | |
| To walk with memory, when distant lies | |
| Poor Earth, where we were wont to live and grieve. | | | | |
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