| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | I. Autumn | | By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) |
| | | THOU comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain, | |
| With banners, by great gales incessant fanned, | |
| Brighter than brightest silks of Samarcand, | |
| And stately oxen harnessed to thy wain! | |
| Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne, | 5 |
| Upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand | |
| Outstretched with benedictions o’er the land, | |
| Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain. | |
| Thy shield is the red harvest-moon, suspended | |
| So long beneath the heaven’s o’erhanging eaves; | 10 |
| Thy steps are by the farmer’s prayers attended; | |
| Like flames upon an altar shine the sheaves; | |
| And, following thee, in thy ovation splendid, | |
| Thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves! | | | | |
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