Autumn, The Year’s Last Loveliest Smile Printable

“Autumn – the year’s last, loveliest smile.”

 

THE INDIAN SUMMER
by John H. Bryant

That soft, autumnal time
Is come, that shed, upon the naked scene,
Charms only known in this our northern clime—
Bright seasons, far between.

The woodland foliage now
Is gather’d by the wild November blast;
L’en the thick leaves upon the poplar’s bough
Are fallen, to the last.

The mighty vines, that round
The forest trunks their slender branches bind,
Their crimson foliage shaken to the ground,
Swing naked in the wind.

Some living green remains
By the clear brook that shines along the lawn;
But the sear grass stands white o’er all the plains,
And the bright flowers are gone.

But these, these are thy charms—
Mild airs, and tempered light upon the lea,
And the year holds no time within his arms,
That doth resemble thee.

The sunny noon is thine,
Soft, golden, noiseless as the dead of night;
And hues that in the flush’d horizon shine
At eve and early light.

The year’s last, loveliest smile,
Thou com’st to fill with hope the human heart,
And strengthen it to bear the storms awhile,
Till winter’s frowns depart.

Far in a sheltered nook,
I’ve met, in these calm days, a smiling flower,
A lonely aster, trembling by a brook,
At the quiet noontides’ hour:

And something told my mind
That, should old age to childhood call me back,
Some sunny days and flowers I still might find
Along life’s weary track.

November 1851, Sartain’s Magazine (Philadelphia, PA), “Life of Man and of the Year. November” by Henrietta A. Hadry, pg. 329, col. 1

 

Many people improperly credit the quote of autumn being the last, loveliest smile to William Cullen Bryant, John H. Bryant’s brother. Today I thought I’d share this classic poem as a tribute to fall and Mr. Bryant.  My printable is based of course on the quote: “Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile.”  For those of us who love colorful fall it is a perfect description of nature’s explosion of color ending another season and ushering in the new.

Autumn – the year’s last, loveliest smile Printable 11″ x 14″

 

 

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Wishing you a beautiful and serene autumn.

As with all my printables, they are for your personal use.   Please do not post these images on your own site unless you link back here.

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