AUTUMN.
Hurrah for the woods! Come, boys and girls!
There's joy in the air today;
In crimson and yellow the flowers and leaves
Are keeping a holiday.
Down in the meadow the golden-rod
Is marching in bright array,
With a corps of asters on either side,
In a mingling of blue and gray.
The cardinal-flower beside the brook
Like a red-coat sentinel stands,
While the road that runs through the yellow fields
Is guarded by sumacs bands.
Like a Roman phalanx, tall and grim,
The cat-tails guard the pond,
And the creeper throws out his banner bright
From the mossy wall beyond.
Do not think there Is war in this martial scene;
It is only a gay parade;
They are making a festival out in the woods
For the flowers that soon must fade.
There are purple grapes for the holiday feast,
And dogwood-berries and haws,
And the birds are invited to peck their fill,
And the squirrels to nil their paws.
Next month, when the nuts begin to drop,
They have bidden good-bye to fun,
For the birds have gone on their weary flight,
And the squirrels' work begun.
Come, join your thanks at the festival
For the beautiful summer days,
And add to the chorus of autumn-song
The children's hymn of praise.
Go lift your eyes to the deep blue sky,
And your hearts to the God above;
Let the golden sunshine that floods the world
Speak to you of his great love.
S. S. Visitor.