This Spare Autumn Day

 

Having witnessed the Beauty of Autumn,

 I Bargained with the Powers That Be

 

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I ask no more than this spare autumn day –

But let this day endure all days to come!

 

For in the whisk of winter’s trifling eye,

I see again the gleam that signifies

 

The coming of a wind

And best of all your blessings -

 

That pungent unction in the wasting leaves,

Bleeding from the knotty arms of trees,

And spreading like a painted cloak

About a spent and naked form!

 

Oh, show me, show me now

Your fresh unfinished work,[1]

 

That I may know the life I forfeit

 

Is not lost in vain,

 

But brings about a good

All eyes can see

 

Oh, give to me this autumn day,

And let my heart be yours again!