The Madisonian

SPECIMEN OF PERSIAN POETRY
AUTUMN.
As day and night each other chase,
And bring new changes ever,
So autumn comes to summer's place
For Nature pauses never.
The dancing boughs of green that threw
Their young and sportive arms to heaven,
Are tinted now with golden hue.
And leaves shake in the sign of even;
Till, drooping, fading, dropping one by one,
The leafy army of the woods are gone!
The birds sit mute on ev'ry bough.
No roses blush within their bower;
Why should they tune their voices now,
When perished is each list'ning flower?
Well may their concert sadly close
The last red leaf has left the rose!
The bul-bul wanders to and fro,
His wing is weak, his note is low;
In vain he wakes his song,
Since she he woo'd so long
No more sheds perfume on the air around:
Her hundred leaves lie scattered on the ground:
Or if one solitary bud remain
The bloom is past, and only left the stain.
Where once amidst the blossoms was his nest,
Thorns raise their daggers at his bleeding breast.
Bright saffron tints the orange wears,
The vine deep purple clusters bears;
The time is come for gems to shower,
And make the teeming press run o'er.
With broken hearts, and robes of sanguine dye,
Pomegranates, ripe and rich, fall heavily;
From ev'ry tree drop bursting fruit and leaves;
And the hard ground the gushing stream receives.
The ring-dove mourns, the bees neglect their store,
The ten-tongued lily welcomes them no more;
The coy moon veils in mist her yellow brow,
Summer's last hour is passed—Autumn is monarch now!