John Greenleaf Whittier: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Autumn Thoughts

John Greenleaf Whittier

“Autumn Thoughts” as printed in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895).

John Greenleaf Whittier: Collected Lyrics Text 24 1895 · historical text
Public domainBalladAmerican song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Gone hath the Spring, with all its flowers,

And gone the Summer’s pomp and show,

And Autumn, in his leafless bowers,

Is waiting for the Winter’s snow.

I said to Earth, so cold and gray,

“An emblem of myself thou art.”

“Not so,” the Earth did seem to say,

“For Spring shall warm my frozen heart.”

I soothe my wintry sleep with dreams

Of warmer sun and softer rain,

And wait to hear the sound of streams

And songs of merry birds again.

But thou, from whom the Spring hath gone,

For whom the flowers no longer blow,

Who standest blighted and forlorn,

Like Autumn waiting for the snow;

No hope is thine of sunnier hours,

Thy Winter shall no more depart;

No Spring revive thy wasted flowers,

Nor Summer warm thy frozen heart.

Credits

Written by John Greenleaf Whittier

Words by John Greenleaf Whittier. Historical text published in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895), “Autumn Thoughts”

Every text in this 1895 collected edition is by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), who died more than 133 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

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Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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