Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1861-10-11
Autumn Leaves.

The leaves ofautumn are beginning to fade
and fall, although without the aid of the
still kindly delayed fiosts. 1t seems not long
since we watched their gradual unfolding, in
tufts Of tender green. The spring birds sang
swectly then upon the budding boughs, their
dark plumage contrasting with the scarlet
flowers of the maple, the graceful tassels of
the em,, and the pinky-velvet leaflets of the
oak. The young leaves Of the hickory burst
from their calyx like the petals of an emerald
flower; and as the season advanced, the syc-
amore shook out its broad foliage to the sun,
and the sumac veiled its harsh outline in
floating and feathery plumcs. And when at
length the June roses blossomed by the way
side, the forest stood crowned and robcd in
its pomp of summer green.
Bit the leaves whose shadow was 50 vel.
come served not Tor coolness and drapcry
alone. Each of our graceful visitants had it's
modicum of work to do. Fed by the branch
cs they adorned, they in turn laid up store
OF ntriinent for the parent trunk. They
elaborated its juices, and sent them back en-
rlchcd by nourishment imbibed from the sur
rounding air. They imprisoned the sun
shine in their delicate cells, and sents its Vi
talizing influence to the roots it never saw.
They watched all night long beneath the
the stars, drinking in the " sweet. influences
of the Pleiades" with the moonlight and the
dew. They nurscd the young buds Graded
at their feet, till, rocked by the winds and
lulleed by the song of new fedged birds, they
grew healthful and round, the robust heirs
of the developed year. They watched over
the ripcned fruit, screening it from the too
tervid rays of noon, and breaking the force
and fury of the storm
But DOW their benignant ministry is closed.
They can no longer serve the children they
have tostered, nor the parent that gave them
birth. Their small housekeeping accounts
arc balanced for the year; their graceful task
is done; and, so donning their taircst robes,
and kissing the strong arms that have sus-
tanned them so faithfully, one by one and in
silence they steal to their place Of rest Go
to the orchards and see, wherever spring
frosts have not blighted the seasons hope,
how the boughs bend above the treasures
they have lost, while on the turf beneath
them
Like living Goals, the apples,
Burn among the whering leaves.
Go to the woodland walks, and you will find
them already strcwn as if for expected guests
lightly carpeted with leaves of pale yellow,
and green with crimson veins. Go to the Gem
ctcry, and see how the bright creatures have
chosen their graves among the very fairest
OF our own, and, reversing the pathetic nur-
s"ry legend, have covered the robins whose
wings are folded, with picturesque and per-
ishable pail. And even here their mission
is a kind one, for not even the fi'ailest leal
" dieth for ITSELF Its dust shall yet bloom,
in and pinlnfS apl fhn oc;,,,vD,, ~
the maple shall re-appear on the cheek of the
peach. Verify, we do all fade as leaf"
but the thought should never give us pain.
Like our sisters of the summer, we should
spend our lives in ministries of beauty, and
leave blessing behind US as we pass
Springfield Republican.