85 Classic Poems about Leaves Everyone Should Read
Leaves have been a perennial subject of poetry, inspiring poets for centuries with their natural beauty and symbolism.
From the lush green leaves of spring to the golden hues of autumn, leaves have been celebrated in countless poems about leaves for their vibrant colors, delicate textures, and evocative imagery.
In this collection, we have gathered some of the best classic poems about leaves, including poems about green leaves, golden leaves, autumn leaves, falling leaves, dancing leaves, and more.
Whether you are a poetry lover, nature enthusiast, or simply appreciate the beauty of leaves, these poems for leaves are sure to captivate and inspire you.
Famous Poems about Leaves
Many of the world’s greatest poets have been inspired by the beauty and symbolism of leaves. In this category, you will find poems about leaves by famous poets.
1. The Love-leaf
by Ruby Archer
In thought I wandered through the falling brightness
Of autumn leaves; no meaning they possessed,
Until one radiant leaf in playful lightness
Came whispering down and nestled on my breast.
A sense of pleasure thrilled through all my being;
To be more sure I felt the presence fair,
I touched it with my hand. Ah—swiftly fleeing,
It fell in formless fragments on the air.
Perhaps it was an omen. Love may flutter,
A bright-hued leaf from fate’s o’er-hanging tree,
May fall to nestle at my heart, may utter
A murmured word of tenderness to me.
And if I seek with trembling touch to banish
A fear that love lives only in the mind,
Then will the glory of the love-leaf vanish,
And leave but dust and memories behind.
2. Gathering Leaves
by Robert Frost
Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.
I make a great noise
Of rustling all day
Like rabbit and deer
Running away.
But the mountains I raise
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.
I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?
Next to nothing for weight,
And since they grew duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.
Next to nothing for use.
But a crop is a crop,
And who’s to say where
The harvest shall stop?
3. October’s Party
by George Cooper
October gave a party;
The leaves by hundreds came—
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name.
The Sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand,
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.
The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best;
All balanced to their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
New fallen from the sky.
Then, in the rustic hollow,
At hide-and-seek they played,
The party closed at sundown,
And everybody stayed.
Professor Wind played louder;
They flew along the ground;
And then the party ended
In jolly “hands around.”
4. The Leaves Do Not Mind at All
by Annette Wynne
The leaves do not mind at all
That they must fall.
When summertime has gone,
It is pleasant to put on
A traveling coat of brown and gray
And fly away,
Past the barn and past the school,
Past the noisy little pool,
It used to hear but could not see.
O, it is joy to be
A leaf—and free!
To be swiftly on the wing
Like a bird adventuring.
And then, tired out, to creep
Under some friendly rail and go to sleep;
The leaves do not mind at all
That they must fall.
5. A Leaf
by John McGovern
From out the topmost bulb — a budding sentry —
A leaflet spread its green against the blue;
The songsters heralded its earthly entry
And it was christened in the morning’s dew.
All through the summer, on an oak that towered,
A stately captain of his lordly kind,
It fanned the birdlings in their nest embowered,
Or from their housing turned the churlish wind.
Then autumn chanting came, investments sober,
Bearing the cup of dissolution’s lees;
Forth in the majesty of hazed october,
A withered leaf was hearsed upon the breeze.
6. Green Leaves
by D. M. Mulock
Nay, lift up thankful eyes, my sweet!
Count equal, loss and gain.
Because as long as this world lasts
Green leaves will come again.
For sure as earth lies under snows.
And love lies under pain,
‘Tis good to sing with everything.
When green leaves come again.
7. Before It’s Time to Go to Bed
by Annette Wynne
Before it’s time to go to bed,
Let’s have a feast,” October said,
“Let’s call our family all together,
And celebrate this pleasant weather”;
Then every leaf put on her best,
And each small shrub most richly dressed,
In red and gold and orange, too,
And many another party hue.
The party lasted day and night,
Until the leaves were tired quite,
“O Mother Dear,” at last each said,
“It’s time for us to go to bed;
Dear Mother Tree, good-night to you!”
Then loosed her hand and off it flew,
And every little sleepy head
Soon settled in the garden bed,
And dreamed the dreams that flowers do
And slept and slept the winter through.
Short Poems about Leaves
Sometimes, a few words are all it takes to capture the essence of a moment or a feeling. In this category, you will find short and sweet poems about leaves that pack a punch with their economy of language and evocative imagery.
1. Maple Leaves
by Thomas Bailey Aldrich
October turned my maple’s leaves to gold;
The most are gone now; here and there one lingers:
Soon these will slip from out the twigs’ weak hold,
Like coins between a dying miser’s fingers.
2. Leaves
by Lillie Belle Dimond
I want to go where the leaves are burning,
Burning in scarlet and gold;
The wind is up and my heart is turning
Again to the forest old.
I want to go where the leaves keep dropping,
Dropping in crimson and brown;
From dawn till dusk, not a moment stopping,
They are drifting, drifting down.
I want to go where the leaves are blowing,
Blowing in russet and red;
The brook like a voice, through the silence flowing,
Still whispers of summer dead.
Yet, why go back where the leaves are falling,
Falling again on the hill?
Tho woods await and the winds are calling
Thy voice is forever still.
3. Nothing Gold Can Stay
by Robert Frost
Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold,
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
4. The Little Leaf
And so, the little leaf flew far—O far,
Out to the place where the blue hills are.
It took the wind’s hand, and on it went;
All was so new—it was quite content
To go far away from the mother tree
And find where the little brook found the sea.
5. A Maple Leaf
by Margaret E. Sangster
So bright in death I used to say,
So beautiful through frost and cold!
A lovelier thing I know to-day,
The leaf is growing old,
And wears in grace of duty done,
The gold and scarlet of the sun.
6. Burning Leaves, November
by Christopher Morley
These are folios of April,
All the library of spring,
Missals gilt and rubricated
With the frost’s illumining.
Ruthless, we destroy these treasures,
Set the torch with hand profane—
Gone, like Alexandrian vellums,
Like the books of burnt Louvain!
Yet these classics are immortal:
O collectors, have no fear,
For the publisher will issue
New editions every year.
7. Gossip
by Emily Dickinson
The leaves, like women, interchange
Sagacious confidence;
Somewhat of nods, and somewhat of
Portentous inference,
The parties in both cases
Enjoining secrecy, —
Inviolable compact
To notoriety.
Haiku Poems about Leaves
Haiku is a traditional form of Japanese poetry that is often inspired by the natural world. In this category, you will find haiku poems that use the spare and elegant form of this poetic style to capture the beauty and symbolism of leaves.
1. Drifting Leaves
by Renee H. Chrysso
Golden butterflies
float down to the soft, moist ground
and rest till fall ends
2. A Leaf
by Mihaela Pirjol
fallen from the tree—
an Autumn leaf’s new journey
on the rivulet
3. Golden Autumn
by Sharon Jones
Golden autumn ways
Falling leaves and sunny rays
Perfect writing days
4. October’s Gold
by Paul Holmes
Like crunchy cornflakes
Gold leaves rustle underfoot
Beauty in decay.
5. Autumn’s Here
by Angela Heffer
She calls us outside
To tumble in crunchy leaves.
She’s here! Autumn’s here!
6. Autumn Haiku
by Lucie
A misty morning –
Pumpkins in the air, while boots
Crunch on autumn leaves.
7. Golden Leaves
by Ann Southall
Raindrops on the roof.
Golden leaves crunching underfoot.
Snuggle with a book.
Poems about Green Leaves
Green leaves are a symbol of life and vitality, and many poets have used them to convey the beauty of nature and the cycle of growth and renewal. In this category, you will find classic green leaves poems that celebrate the lush green leaves of spring and summer.
1. Green Leaves
by William Leighton
Sunny Spring is here at last,
Breathing hints of buds and clover;
Frosts, and snows, and storms are past;
Winter’s dreary reign is over:
Not a thought in Nature grieves,
All things ‘babble of green leaves.’
I can hear the zephyr sigh
O’er the height and through the hollow:
Lark-notes raining from on high,
Hum of bee and song of swallow;
Idyls that the mavis weaves
In this ‘babble of green leaves.’
Shady nook and grassy dell,
Daisy, crocus, snowdrop, pansy,
Hawthorn blossom, sweet blue-bell,—
All come crowding on my fancy,
Balmy mornings, blessed eves—
In this ‘babble of green leaves.’
2. Tender Green Leaves
by Michael Cope
I see the serene shean of the green
In all that I see, saw, and have seen
On knees I’ve knelt below these trees
Watching tender green leaves blow in the breeze
Imagine that green was greener than green
Imagine the forrest, imagine the scene
Imagine what’s seen in the midst of it’s being
Is in the midst of it’s being just to be seen
Do you too see the glimmering leaves?
Displayed on tree branches hanging from eaves
Dancing with ease blown by the breeze
Are you too pleased by green in these trees?
If so, I know you too have knelt
Felt those feelings I too have felt
Neath these trees on kneeling knees
Riding the breeze with hopes to seize
All that we see and all we have seen
Here in life’s forrest, greener than green
While simply just being in the midst of our being
While in the midst of our being just to be seen
3. Green Leaves and Sere
by Mathilde Blind
Three tall poplars beside the pool
Shiver and moan in the gusty blast,
The carded clouds are blown like wool,
And the yellowing leaves fly thick and fast.
The leaves, now driven before the blast,
Now flung by fits on the curdling pool,
Are tossed heaven-high and dropped at last
As if at the whim of a jabbering fool.
O leaves, once rustling green and cool!
Two met here where one moans aghast
With wild heart heaving towards the past:
Three tall poplars beside the pool.
4. The Green Leaves
by Gangadharan Nair Pulingat
Between the rotten leaves and green ones
The buds of leaves makes the tree so beautiful
As a promise of the future of this tree
As a promise of continuing life of the tree
Which sees the hope for the steady continuation
Not knowing the buds changes into green leaves
And follows the path of the rotten leaves to fall
As the little children gives lot of hopes
To our own world to give happiness to all
They are entitled our care and love always
How wonderful the love that makes this nature.
5. Touch of Green Leaves
by Bernard F. Asuncion
C-louds Friday March tenth
R-emain white in the sky;
I-t’s a lovely morning,
A-s the night passes by.
P-ouring rain has been
O-bliterated by the rainbow;
Q-uest for the new dawn,
U-ntil you see the morrow.
I-t’s a wonderful nature, pure delight it truly gives;
Z-one of breeze has let you feel the touch of green leaves.
6. Green Leaves!
by Edward Kofi Louis
Green leaves!
Green Vegetation;
Green forest,
Wonders of nature!
Fragrance of life,
Aroma of creation,
Beauty of life on earth.
Poems about Golden Leaves
In this category, you will find golden leaves poems that capture the essence of this seasonal transformation and the fleeting beauty of golden leaves.
1. Gold Leaves
by G. K. Chesterton
Lo! I am come to autumn,
When all the leaves are gold;
Grey hairs and golden leaves cry out
The year and I are old.
In youth I sought the prince of men,
Captain in cosmic wars,
Our Titan, even the weeds would show
Defiant, to the stars.
But now a great thing in the street
Seems any human nod,
Where shift in strange democracy
The million masks of God.
In youth I sought the golden flower
Hidden in wood or wold,
But I am come to autumn,
When all the leaves are gold.
2. Of Golden Leaves
by David Wood
‘Tis time to mend this wounded heart
Since it slowed to a miniscule beat
To see with my eyes the face of the world
And say ‘hello’ to all I greet.
My days are now of golden leaf
The fruit has passed its sell-by date
And the best of love has now gone,
The distance travelled has been great
And I have sung loves only song.
New hopes and fears now line my path
As I travel down this road alone
And running nature’s ultimate course,
Past mistakes my soul does now atone.
We make a grave in our heart for our sorrow
And wait for a greater peace than we have known
When fear and worry no longer matter
After we have reaped what we have sown.
3. Leaves
by Hilda Conkling
In my apple-orchard
In the oldest tree
Fall has hidden gold leaves.
I looked into the hollow
And saw no apples,
Only leaves with frost on them
Like marble tilings,
Like jeweled tables . . .
Yet there was no gold . . . no marble . . .
Only leaves covered with frost
That sparkled the way my thought told me.
4. The Lovely Golden Tree
by Josie Whitehead
I saw it on the tele,
So it surely must be true:
‘I grew a lovely golden tree,
And if I did, so can you.
This surely beats the lottery,
Or scratch cards and the pools
Let’s buy ourselves a golden tree,
Not sit here just like fools.
To the garden centre off we went
With money in our hands,
But when we saw the tiny tree
It didn’t meet our plans.
They completely reassured us though:
‘Your tree will quickly grow,’
So off we set, with tree in car
And hearts that were aglow.
Its speed of growth amazed us all.
By autumn – what a size!
‘My goodness, think of all that gold!
That’s better than a prize!’
One bright and sunny autumn day
We noticed something weird.
Our tree had changed its little leaves
And gold leaves had appeared.
The morning sun shone on its leaves.
‘Oh, what a dazzling sight!’
Our relatives soon joined us all
And murmured with delight.
We thought of how we’d spend the gold.
We made our plans all day,
But, whilst we went to get our sacks,
Those gold leaves blew away.
5. A Maple Leaf
by Kate Slaughter McKinney
Glancing o’er a childish volume where sweet thoughts like blossoms lay,
There between two oft read pages, a pressed wreath I found to-day.
Golden-rod and aster flowers lay with bloom all crushed and dead,
But a maple leaf among them still retained its gold and red.
In my hand I took the treasure, held it up before my face,
And the sunlight, then declining, solved its geometric grace.
Many a road and by-path meeting proved the interwoven veins;
And a forest rose before me, flaming like my window panes.
As a vision that is pictured by an angel in the night,
Soon a figure, sometime vanished, rose to my exultant sight.
Like a goddess of enchantment, there she stood beneath the trees,
And her face was like a lily, and her eyes like summer seas.
Then I thought, “For me she’s waiting”—so I glanced off to the right,
For I feared it all a fancy, but I found my home in sight;
Heard the town-clock slowly striking, and the same familiar bells,
Saw the court-house and the churches, and “The Summit,” where she dwells.
So I then no longer doubted, down a meadow path I strolled,
Leading off into the woodland that had stole the sunset’s gold.
Overhead the birds were flying, but a black winged happy throng
Paused; for we had been old comrades and they sang a farewell song.
But the thoughts that followed after, though the birds away had flown,
Were so happy, for she met me, linked her arm within my own.
Up and down the path we wandered, gathering leaves and grasses gray,
Until darkness drove the twilight o’er the hill where fled the day.
Darkness! and her face had vanished, all alone I seemed to stand,
But I heard her step departing, and I grasped again her hand.
Held it tight, and tighter pressing, in a happy strange belief,
Till I ’woke, and found that dreaming I had crushed my treasured leaf.
Poems about Autumn Leaves
Autumn is a season of change, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the vibrant colors of falling leaves. In this category, you will find autumn leaves poems that explore the themes of change, transformation, and the passing of time through the imagery of autumn leaves.
1. Autumn Song
by Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Know’st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the heart feels a languid grief
Laid on it for a covering,
And how sleep seems a goodly thing
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?
And how the swift beat of the brain
Falters because it is in vain,
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf
Knowest thou not? and how the chief
Of joys seems—not to suffer pain?
Know’st thou not at the fall of the leaf
How the soul feels like a dried sheaf
Bound up at length for harvesting,
And how death seems a comely thing
In Autumn at the fall of the leaf?
2. Autumn Leaves
by Angelina Wray
In the hush and the lonely silence
Of the chill October night,
Some wizard has worked his magic
With fairy fingers light.
The leaves of the sturdy oak trees
Are splendid with crimson and red.
And the golden flags of the maple
Are fluttering overhead.
Through the tangle of faded grasses
There are trailing vines ablaze,
And the glory of warmth and color
Gleams through the autumn haze.
Like banners of marching armies
That farther and farther go;
Down the winding roads and valleys
The boughs of the sumacs glow.
So open your eyes, little children,
And open your hearts as well,
Till the charm of the bright October
Shall fold you in its spell.
3. An Autumn Fantasie
by Ruby Archer
One by one the dead leaves fall,
Yielding gently to the call
Of the autumn wind.
Half reluctantly they go,
Falter, waver to and fro,
Glancing oft behind.
How the wind catches them,
Greedily snatches them,
Whirling and swirling them
Dizzily ’round
Coyly it plays with them,
Sportively sways with them
Down to the ground.
Were they longing to be blest
With a single moment’s rest?
From the sward they’re torn,—
Mad careering ’round and high,
‘Till they mingle in the sky,
Breathlessly they’re borne.
As they earthward return,
Their tired spirits yearn
For a bourne of repose.
They hesitate, waver,
Then by the wind’s favor
Their pilgrimage close.
4. Trees in Autumn
by John Jay Chapman
The poets have made Autumn sorrowful;
I find her joyous, radiant, serene.
Her pomp is hung in a deep azure sky
That turns about the world by day and night,
Nor loses its bright charm.
And when the trees resign their foliage,
Losing their leaves upon the cradling air
As liberally as if they ne’er had owned them,—
They show the richer for the nakedness
That weds them with the clarity of heav’n.
5. An Autumn Leaf
by John B. Tabb
A nursling of the under-green,
A tethered wing I poised between
A heaven above and heaven below—
Twin Sisters, mirrored in the glow
Of limpid waters—where the breeze,
Blind comrade of the listening trees,
Came wakening with soft caress
The shadows dumb and motionless.
There once, at summer’s close, a flame
Of fire and song, a Redbird came,
And, perched upon my parent limb,
Outpoured his soul. From joy abrim,
The bubbling vintage of his brain,
I quaffed, the while each fibre-vein,
Deep-reddening with emotion, stirred,
Alas! he heeded not nor heard!
But when he ceased, and flew away,
A panting prisoner I lay,
Close-fettered, till the kindred fire
Of frost lit up the autumn pyre:
Then, suddenly, the tidal swell
Of sap receded, and I fell.
6. I Love These Days
by Annette Wynne
I love these days when autumn leaves
Are falling everywhere around,
And I can tread among the sheaves,
And hear the crispy, crunchy sound.
I leave my dolly safe at home,
And climb the old gray orchard wall;
The squirrels spy me where I roam,
And scamper to the treetops tall.
And O, it is a pleasant thing
To listen for the happy sound,
Each little leaflet tries to sing,
That rustles softly to the ground.
And so I spend the afternoon,
And watch the leaves go floating by
Till Mother comes to say that soon
The dark will come into the sky.
I know when stars are overhead,
The leaves all gather in a heap,
And while I lie quite warm in bed,
They snuggle close and go to sleep.
7. The Leaf
by Ruby Archer
The leaflet, greening with a vigored sap,
Ripens its being in the sun and wind;
And then, in some cool hour, it loses hold
Of all that made life dear, and lightly drifts
On breezy current to the deep of grass,
And there with autumn rain disintegrates,—
Giving its mite to richening of earth.
Is that the end? Wait yet the planets’ rolling.
In Spring, the seeking roots will gather in
The tender mould our little leaf became,
And merge it into miracle of life.
Behold the resurrection of the leaf!
There is no death—mere winter of a sleep.
8. The Lesson of the Leaves
by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
O thou who bearest on thy thoughtful face
The wearied calm that follows after grief,
See how the autumn guides each loosened leaf
To sure repose in its own sheltered place,
Ah, not forever whirl they in the race
Of wild forlornness round the gathered sheaf,
Or hurrying onward in a rapture brief
Spin o’er the moorlands into trackless space.
Some hollow captures each; some sheltering wall
Arrests the wanderer on its aimless way;
The aiitumn’s pensive beauty needs them all,
And winter finds them warm, though sere and gray.
They nurse young blossoms for the spring’s sweet call,
And shield new leaflets for the burst of May.
9. A Day in Autumn
by Ronald Stuart Thomas
It will not always be like this,
The air windless, a few last
Leaves adding their decoration
To the trees’ shoulders, braiding the cuffs
Of the boughs with gold; a bird preening
In the lawn’s mirror. Having looked up
From the day’s chores, pause a minute,
Let the mind take its photograph
Of the bright scene, something to wear
Against the heart in the long cold.
Poems about Leaves Falling
The image of leaves falling from trees is one of the most iconic and evocative symbols of autumn. In this category, you will find poems about leaves falling down that explore the themes of change, loss, and the passage of time through the imagery of falling leaves.
1. The Falling Leaves
by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts
Lightly He blows, and at His breath they fall,
The perishing kindreds of the leaves; they drift,
Spent flames of scarlet, gold aërial,
Across the hollow year, noiseless and swift.
Lightly He blows, and countless as the falling
Of snow by night upon a solemn sea,
The ages circle down beyond recalling,
To strew the hollows of Eternity.
He sees them drifting through the spaces dim,
And leaves and ages are as one to Him.
2. Falling Leaves
by Edwin Oscar Gale
The winter approaches, the summer is past,
How fast the leaves fall in the chilly north blast.
They gather in heaps by the side of the way,
Then scatter like children in rollicking play.
They seem as the birds with intelligence crowned
Slow fluttering down from the trees to the ground.
How joyous their movements as upward they spring
Like some clumsy fledgling first trying its wing.
No lark appears happier chasing its note,
The joy in its heart leaping out at its throat.
When May last approached with its bright sunny skies,
And Flora’s pet child with its indigo eyes
Was watching a youth in a golden surtout,
As slowly he rose from taraxicum root,
The oak at my window looked barren and dead,
No promise of leaves where the old had been shed,
His fingerless hands to the sun he upbore;
A beggar forlorn, he did mutely implore
Apollo to clothe him with verdure again,
Through woofs of the sun to weave warps of the rain.
The wind swept its branches, as harps that are strung.
The birds were in transport and sang as they swung;
The clouds scattered tears on each embryo leaf,
The sun kissed them off, giving gladness for grief;
The buds bursting bonds that had held them so long,
Though weaklings at first became suddenly strong;
No cunning of man could such power bestow
And through the alburnum coax fluids to flow.
Who taught the young leaves to choose food with such skill,
As bees from the flowers their nectaries fill?
What taste in their vestments they wisely displayed:
They studied the prism ere garments were made;
When up in the branches they first could be seen,
To hasten their growth did they don a bright green;
Attaining full size they wore russets and browns,
Like elderly matrons in plain, modest gowns.
What artists these leaves and what toilers they’ve been,
So peerless in painting, so skillful to spin;
Combining the forces of earth and of air
They crowned the old oak with a coronet rare.
Their mission performed they sent down to the soil
For leaves of the future, bequeathments of oil.
What eloquent sermons these falling leaves preach,
What lessons of labor and patience they teach,
Of faith and good works. The gospel of cheer
They whisper to those who are willing to hear.
Men boast when they give what they never may miss,
But where do we find such devotion as this?
When winds with their flails make the giant oaks bend,
And, thrashed from their cups, the ripe acorns descend,
Like angels who come from their bright homes above
To comfort the hearts sore in need of their love,
The faithful leaves drop to the acorns below,
Warm blankets upon them to tenderly throw.
The winter may come with its ice and its silt,
But safe are the nuts in their foliage quilt,
And when they at length shall emerge from the cold,
The spades of the acorns will pierce the soft mould,
The leaves that preserved them, now gone to decay
Will nourish the monarchs of some distant day.
Aye wonderful things are these fast falling leaves,
From year after year nature daintily weaves
With dew drops for needles, with sunbeams for thread,
Gay garbs for the living from shrouds of the dead.
3. How the Leaves Came Down
by Susan Coolidge
“I’ll tell you how the leaves came down,”
The great Tree to his children said:
“You’re getting sleepy, Yellow and Brown,
Yes, very sleepy, little Red.
It is quite time to go to bed.”
“Ah!” begged each silly, pouting leaf,
“Let us a little longer stay;
Dear Father Tree, behold our grief!
‘Tis such a very pleasant day,
We do not want to go away.”
So, for just one more merry day
To the great Tree the leaflets clung,
Frolicked and danced, and had their way,
Upon the autumn breezes swung,
Whispering all their sports among—
“Perhaps the great Tree will forget,
And let us stay until the spring,
If we all beg, and coax, and fret.”
But the great Tree did no such thing;
He smiled to hear their whispering.
“Come, children, all to bed,” he cried;
And ere the leaves could urge their prayer,
He shook his head, and far and wide,
Fluttering and rustling everywhere,
Down sped the leaflets through the air.
I saw them; on the ground they lay,
Golden and red, a huddled swarm,
Waiting till one from far away,
White bedclothes heaped upon her arm,
Should come to wrap them safe and warm.
The great bare Tree looked down and smiled.
“Good-night, dear little leaves,” he said.
And from below each sleepy child
Replied, “Good-night,” and murmured,
“It is _so_ nice to go to bed!”
4. The Falling Leaves
by Marianne Farningham
They fall upon the sodden earth, the fading, dying leaves,
Death comes to them, the beautiful, in the autumnal breeze;
Their little summer day is past, and yellow, dry, and sere,
They droop before the lightest touch of winter’s finger drear.
Old trees, ye will be desolate, and naked, and forlorn,
Lifting your bare arms upward ‘mid the frosty winter’s morn!
Old trees, your bright green, dancing leaves, where sunbeams loved to play,
The angry storm relentlessly will sweep them all away.
And we have had our falling leaves—the autumn winds have come
And rudely swept across our hearts, and robbed our pleasant home.
The friends we loved, the joys we clasped, the hopes that made us glad,
Are drooping one by one away, and leave us poor and sad.
But he whom God has planted where the eternal rivers glide,
Has God’s own promise that his leaves shall fair and green abide;
That though “the fig-tree wither” and “the olive branches fail,”
The tree that he has planted still shall flourish young and hale.
For every hope that fadeth he shall give a fadeless joy;
For every drooping pleasure, perfect gifts without alloy;
For every passing loved one, purer love to bud and bloom
In the land where death shall come not—in the home without a tomb.
Then let us meet the autumn with a strong and perfect trust,
And fear not that the stormy wind shall lay us in the dust;
For a mighty hand is o’er us, and a Father’s perfect love
Shall guard till he transplants us in the garden fair above.
5. When the Leaves Commence to Fall
by James W. Whilt
When the days commence to shorten
And the nights are getting long,
And we miss the flies and skeeters
And the song birds’ sweetest song,—
To some the summer’s passing,
Leaves the world a darker hue,
But to me it makes it brighter,
Just the same as if ’twas new.
As I say, some people hate it,
But I love it best of all;
When the nights are getting frosty
And the leaves commence to fall.
You get up in the morning
And the air is crisp and cold,
The hills have on their war paint,
Crimson, orange, brown and gold;
And to me they have a message
That I can’t forget at all,
When the nights are getting frosty
And the leaves commence to fall.
I can easily foresee
That I cannot tarry long,
So I at once get busy,
And my heart is full of song;
As I look my snow-shoes over,
And patch up my canoe;
As happy as a little boy
Whose red-top boots are new.
And I work both late and early
And don’t want to stop at all,
When the nights are getting frosty
And the leaves commence to fall.
Now the north wind is a-blowing
But, then little do I care,
For I know a little cabin
Holds all my grubstake there.
And that very self-same cabin
Is dearer to me than all,
When the nights are getting frosty
And the leaves commence to fall.
And so I will soon be starting
To where the deer on meadows play,
And the wondrous Northern lights
Make the forest light as day.
Back to the lakes and rivers,
As straight as a laden bee,
Back to the forest primeval,
That’s where I long to be!
Trapping on creeks and marshes,
Back where the bull-moose call.
When the nights are getting frosty
And the leaves commence to fall.
6. The Snowing of the Pines
by Thomas Wentworth Higginson
Softer than silence, stiller than still air,
Float down from high pine-boughs the slender leaves.
The forest floor its annual boon receives
That comes like snowfall, tireless, tranquil, fair.
Gently they glide, gently they clothe the bare
Old rocks with grace. Their fall a mantle weaves
Of paler yellow than autumnal sheaves
Or those strange blossoms the witch-hazels wear.
Athwart long aisles the sunbeams pierce their way;
High up, the crows are gathering for the night;
The delicate needles fill the air; the jay
Takes through their golden mist his radiant flight;
They fall and fall, till at November’s close
The snow-flakes drop as lightly—snows on snows.
7. Fall, leaves, fall
by Emily Brontë
Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.
8. Autumn
by Amy Boothby
Swaying gently with the breeze,
Lovely reds, browns and greens,
All waiting to fall from the trees.
When they leave they twist and turn,
Ready to join the masses of fern,
Landing softly on the ground,
You can taste the smell of autumn, all around.
Poems about Leaves Dancing
The rustling of leaves in the wind has a musical quality that many poets have been inspired by. In this category, you will find dancing leaves poems that capture the playful and whimsical nature of leaves dancing in the breeze.
1. The Dance of the Leaves
by Jim Milks
I see a falling leaf escape from the tree
Dancing upon the wind wild and free
But its freedom is a fantasy
For it is a prisoner of the wind can’t you see
The silence of the forest surrounds
My footfalls the only sound
The sunlight filters through the trees
As the leaves dance on a gentle breeze
The freedom that they feel
Is fleeting and not real
Their hopes dashed against the ground
As they fade away without a single sound
2. Dancing Leaves
by Nancy Byrd Turner
The little autumn leaves,
Shabby and frayed and tin,
Get up beneath November skies
And dance before the wind.
They dance before the wind
That hurled them from their place,
But could not blow their anners down
Nor ruin their April grace.
They curtsy without fear,
And circle at his feet;
They whirl in many a lovely dance,
All beautiful and fleet.
High-hearted, brave they moce,
Daring his might breath;
Intrepid to the end, they tell
Their disregard of death.
Here is our lesson, Heart:
Let neither loss nor grief
Nor even death find us at last
Less valiant than a leaf.
3. Leaves Dancing in the Wind
by Robertina B.
Leaves dancing in the wind..
Leaves swaying to the beat..
Winds changing speed as the leaves change movements..
The wind and the leaves..
A dancing pair..
Dancing together..
Togetherness..
We search by far..
We search high and low..
Often at times we do not know..
Precisely what we are looking for..
One day..
Within the darkest hour..
Feeling much despair..
A sorrowful moment..
Discernment makes a grand entrance..
Our natural state is..
Togetherness..
Lack of togetherness
Of which is separation..
Togetherness..
The leaves dancing in the wind..
The wind and the leaves dancing joyously together..
Effortlessly..
Harmony takes a swing..
A dancing pair..
United..
Separation..
Not our true natural state..
Leaves dancing in the wind..
Gracefully with the wind..
A loving dancing pair..
Together..
Leaves dancing in the wind..
We are..
The essence of our natural state..
Of which is togetherness..
4. Flying Leaves
by Anonymous
“We’re changing our dresses,” the little leaves said,
“For pretty fall colors of yellow and red.
The frost king is making our garments so gay,
And when they’re all finished we’re going away.”
So joyfully flying in each merry breeze,
The gay little comrades are leaving the trees.
While up on the branches that grew near the sky,
The little nut babies are waving goodbye.
The tired ones linger awhile in the nook.
And then scurry onward to sail in the brook.
The timid ones flutter around in the air;
The bold ones are whirling off, no one knows where.
The dear little leaflets, how glad they must be.
After living all summer upon the same tree.
To frolic together in such happy mirth.
And then go to bye-low on dear Mother Earth.
5. Dancing Leaves
by Egal Bohen
So strong doth blow
November’s wind
From trees
Their leaves
At summers end
Free leaves
That then a’dancing go
Along the lane
Like autumn snow
A’dancing
Bouncing
Off the ground
Such haste
These leaves
All crispy brown
Announce their passing
By their sound
A’dancing
Flying
All around
If autumn has a sound at all
Then dancing leaves
It will recall
6. The Dance of the Autumn Leaves
by Andrew Pell
The leaves gently and delicately fall to the ground.
They fall to the symphony of silence; there isn’t any sound.
They form a magic circle and align with each other.
The trees spiralling branches form the perfect cover.
The gentle breeze is the catalyst and unseen guest.
The sparrows and other birds look down from their lofty nest.
The leaves hold hands and start in circular motion.
They are intoxicated by an astrological; mystical love potion.
They dance all day for all the passers by.
Their rhythmic and choreographed beauty will fade, but never die.
The orchestra of the wind accompanies these exotic dancers in flight.
The phases of the sun provide a spectacular show of colour and light.
At dusk the light show is over, the curtains begin to fall.
The strange birds of the night begin their melancholic call.
The show will begin again tomorrow.
In this frozen aspect of time, there isn’t any sorrow.
Watch out for the dance of the autumn leaves.
They glide from the trees with such gentle ease.
On the ground they aim to please.
7. Dancing Leaves
by Rasma Raisters
It hasn’t been too clear,
the world too green,
skies a brilliant blue
and white clouds drifting by
The sun still shines so warmly
and the breezes gently blow.
I could almost believe –
that it was all a dream,
that the summer has just come
and there are flowery meadows to roam.
Butterflies still flit among the flowers
and birds sing in the trees.
I heard a chorus,
just this early morn,
the apple trees still full of fruit
and the grass green beneath my feet.
Then taking a walk,
down a country lane,
it was a dancing brown leaf,
that made me realize –
this summer is coming to an end
and soon autumn will be here.
The leaf went dancing along with me,
soon followed by two or three.
How sad it makes me,
to think of saying goodbye,
to all the lazy summer days,
that bring so much fun.
All those summer romances,
blown away by north winds,
that come as a surprise,
while still watching waves rolling in from the sea.
The lush, green grass,
beneath my feet,
will become but a memory,
as the autumn rolls in.
The last of the migratory birds,
soon will fill the skies,
they fly to tropical climes,
leaving me behind.
Sadly reflecting I lift,
a glass of wine,
made from grapes,
sweetened by the summer sun
and say farewell to summer days
and toast to the autumn.
I content myself to think
of the colors, autumn will bring
and will dream
throughout winter,
that through snowy paths will lead me,
waiting until spring crocuses,
bloom once more
and summer comes dancing,
through a meadow,
filled with wildflowers once more.
Poems about Leaves and Life
Leaves are a powerful symbol of the cycle of life and the passing of time. In this category, you will find poems that explore the themes of growth, renewal, and the interconnectedness of all living things through the imagery of leaves.
1. The Law of Life
by Elizabeth W. Denison
A branch of yellow autumn leaves,
So steeped in sunshine through and through
They seemed like stuff that Nature weaves
When all her homespun work she spurns,
And from her loom, that glows and bums
With all the splendors it achieves,
Doth show what she loves best to do.
I held it ‘twixt me and the sun –
The lovely, shining beechen spray;
The breeze blew fresh, and one by one
Came fluttering down the leaflets fair,
Till all the twigs were brown and bare.
“Ah! thus,” I said, “my life doth run.
And thus my hopes are thrown away.”
A foolish thought. In vision clear
God’s answer came to comfort me.
“The golden hopes would soon be sere;
They dropped away to leave a place
For nobler life and richer grace;
Behold where swelling buds appear.
To crown anew the leafless tree!”
2. Falling Leaf, a New Dawn
by R.S Mallari
The odds, a leaf falling on my face
as I watch the sun retreats behind the clouds
contemplating, I should move on against tides
I must let go of the burden, pick-up pace
like the tree dropping its dried leaves
I must let go and shed the sadness
the sun may have set, tomorrow it’ll rise
hold on and wait until the dawn comes
I have watched the shut door too long
hugged the memories deep inside my soul
time to look for the open windows
leave all to experience and move on
I decided to live and will chase for happiness
there is more to life than what I made of it
I was just too afraid to open my heart
it’s behind me now, time to continue the quest
love and life is about living life to the fullest
and not to dwell on the failures and its darkest
run with the wind and conquer thy fears
bury all the doubts and hurt, let your spirit soar
3. Singing Leaves
by Ruby Archer
A little princess long ago
By her father’s charger stood,
To bid Godspeed as he rode away
To the court in the fairy wood.
“And what shall I bring you, my Sweet?” he cried,
“Jewels or silken weaves?”
But she shook her head and plead with him,
“Oh, bring me the singing leaves!”
And I too stand at my Father’s foot,
While he my behest receives:
“No fairing give from the gala world,
But only the singing leaves.”
4. Leaves of Life
by Anonymous
As seasons come and go,
leaves turn from green to shades of gold…
until the strongest fade to brown
before they drift and become the ground.
Winter will nurture what it has taken away,
restoring the earth until the day…
when Spring itself renews
and the cycle of life continues.
My winter will come, but so will Spring,
because life is what love brings…
5. The Lessons of the Leaves
by Anonymous
How do the leaves grow,
In spring, upon their stems?
Oh! the sap swells up with a drop for all,
And that is life to them.
What do the leaves do
Through the long summer hours,
They make a home for the wandering birds,
And shelter the wild flowers.
How do the leaves fade
Beneath the autumn blast?
Oh! they fairer grow before they die,
Their brightest is their last.
We, too, are like leaves,
O children! weak and small;
God knows each leaf of the forest shade:
He knows us, each and all.
Never a leaf falls
Until its part is done;
God gives us grace, like sap, and then
Some work to every one.
We, too, must grow old,
Beneath the autumn sky;
But lovelier and brighter our lives may grow,
Like leaves before they die.
Brighter with kind deeds,
With love to others given;
Till the leaf falls off from the autumn tree,
And the spirit is in heaven.
6. Leaves
by Henry W. Longfellow
What the leaves are to the forest,
With light and air for food,
Ere their sweet and tender juices,
Have been hardened into wood,
That to the world are children;
Through them it feels the glow
Of a brighter and sunnier climate
Than reaches the trunks below.
7. Autumn
by Rainer Maria Rilke
The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,
as if orchards were dying high in space.
Each leaf falls as if it were motioning “no.”
And tonight the heavy earth is falling
away from all other stars in the loneliness.
We’re all falling. This hand here is falling.
And look at the other one. It’s in them all.
And yet there is Someone, whose hands
infinitely calm, holding up all this falling.
Poems about Leaves and Death
The withering of leaves in autumn can be a poignant reminder of the inevitability of death and the impermanence of all things. In this category, you will find poems that use the symbolism of leaves to explore themes of mortality, grief, and loss.
1. A Leaf – A Poem of Death and Rebirth
by Rhonda Marrone
On an autumn afternoon
Warm afternoon sun streams down,
Wind blows,
Gusts in the trees,
Trees growing on mountaintops
A leaf is caught in the wind like a kite
It flies away from its mother tree
Is caught on the wind
Sent floating over the valley
Slowly it drifts
On invisible, wild air currents
The leaf spins, twists,
Rocks back and forth
All the way to the valley floor.
The lonely leaf
Floats very slowly,
Dances like a feather
Freed from a broken pillow,
In playful pillow fight
On a slumber party night.
The leaf lands
Gently, silently,
In the small stream
That carved the valley.
It floats on top of the water:
A ship that navigates around rocks.
It floats effortlessly in currents leading to
Larger streams, Rivers, lakes, oceans.
Until it is ultimately caught in a swirling eddy
And hung-up on a rock,
Shipwrecked,
In the middle of the stream bed.
There it is finished.
Its lifecycle: complete.
As it takes on water,
It sinks to the bottom
Of the creek.
The leaf becomes nourishment
Nutrients for algae and aquatic plants.
This leaf, along with millions of others,
Becomes nourishment needed
For vibrant springtime rebirth.
2. The Dead Leaves
by Jacques Prevert
Oh, I wish so much you would remember
those happy days when we were friends.
Life in those times was so much brighter
and the sun was hotter than today.
Dead leaves picked up by the shovelful.
You see, I have not forgotten.
Dead leaves picked up by the shovelful,
memories and regrets also,
and the North wind carries them away
into the cold night of oblivion.
You see, I have not forgotten
the song that you sang for me:
It is a song resembling us.
We lived together, the both of us,
you who loved me
and I who loved you.
But life drives apart those who love,
ever so softly,
without a noise,
and the sea erases from the sand
the steps of lovers gone their ways.
3. Burning Leaves in Spring
by Christopher Morley
When withered leaves are lost in flame
Their eddying ghosts, a thin blue haze,
Blow through the thickets whence they came
On amberlucent autumn days.
The cool green woodland heart receives
Their dim, dissolving, phantom breath;
In young hereditary leaves
They see their happy life-in-death.
My minutes perish as they glow—
Time burns my crazy bonfire through;
But ghosts of blackened hours still blow,
Eternal Beauty, back to you!
4. Dead Leaves
by Georgia Douglas Johnson
The breaking dead leaves ‘neath my feet
A plaintive melody repeat,
Recalling shattered hopes that lie
As relics of a bygone sky.
Again I thread the mazy past,
Back where the mounds are scattered fast-
Oh! foolish tears, why do you start,
To break of dead leaves in the heart?
5. Indian Summer
by Ruby Archer
Autumn leaves, why deck yourselves
In these brilliant hues?
Is it work of fairy elves,
Fairies to amuse?
Is it that you would prepare
For your latest breath—
Cleopatra-like, be fair
For the sting of death?
6. Dead Leaves
by Enid Blyton
Did I hear someone say that the leaves were dead?
Well, it’s quite a mistake, for in brown, gold and red
They’re hustling,
Bustling,
Rustling about,
Hurrying,
Flurrying,
Scurrying out,
Lively and mischievous, merry and gay –
No, I don’t think the leaves can be dead to-day!
Poems about Leaves and Wind
In this category, you will find the wind and the leaves poems that use the imagery of leaves in the wind to explore themes of change, motion, and the power of nature.
1. Leaves in the Wind
by Anonymous
Winds swirl around me
In their familiar way,
A touch here, another there,
They move me along.
I’m like a leaf:
I’m not going where I wish,
But where I must go:
Where this wind blows me.
Let go, let go,
The wind says.
Open your arms to me,
And just let go.
You can be a leaf in the wind
If you just let go.
2. The Wind and the Leaves
by George Cooper
“Come, little leaves,” said the wind one day.
“Come o’er the meadows with me, and play’
Put on your dress of red and gold,—
Summer is gone, and the days grow cold.”
Soon as the leaves heard the wind’s loud call,
Down they came fluttering, one and all;
Over the brown fields they danced and flew,
Singing the soft little songs they knew.
“Cricket, good-by, we’ve been friends so long;
Little brook, sing us your farewell song,—
Say you are sorry to see us go;
Ah! you will miss us, right well we know.”
“Dear little lambs, in your fleecy fold,
Mother will keep you from harm and cold;
Fondly we’ve watched you in vale and glade;
Say, will you dream of our loving shade?”
Dancing and whirling, the little leaves went;
Winter had called them, and they were content.
Soon fast asleep in their earthy beds,
The snow laid a coverlet over their heads.
3. Leaf in the Wind
by Joan Marques
A leaf in the wind
I am,
Floating through time and space.
Purposeless sometimes,
And determined at others.
As if I could change
The destiny of my flight.
Driven by the illusion
That’s called ego,
Which takes over
On days that I allow mindlessness
To reign.
But then, I wake up
And regain awareness
Of the breath that I borrowed
To get this body going
Until it’s time to pass it on
Like a torch
In the relay race of life,
When the leaf finally lands
In a bed of fertile soil,
In hopes of contributing
To a better tomorrow
For those who will
Continue the flow
After this one.
4. Leaves at Play
by Frank Dempster Sherman
Scamper, little leaves, about
In the autumn sun;
I can hear the old Wind shout,
Laughing as you run,
And I haven’t any doubt
That he likes the fun.
When you’ve run a month or so,
Very tired you’ll get;
But the same old Wind, I know,
Will be laughing yet
When he tucks you in your snow
Downy coverlet
So, run on and have your play,
Romp with all your might;
Dance across the autumn day,
While the sun is bright.
Soon you’ll hear the old Wind say,
“Little leaves, Good-night!”
5. The Song of the Wind and the Leaves
by Ed Blair
There’s a beautiful song that is sung every day
When the wind and the leaves play together,
And I hear the sweet notes as I wander along,
From my low cottage home to the heather.
And I fain would express the sweet sentiment there,
The sweet songs of love and devotion,
When the wind sighs to stay but must go on its way
On its journey o’er land and the ocean.
Oh, the songs yet to sing of the beautiful woods,
Oh, the songs that old Nature is singing,
I hear them each day as I wander away
Where the gay summer birds are awinging.
‘Neath the dark shady leaves the soft winds take a peep
Where the birdlings are nested together,
And say: “Fly away,” for the leaves cannot stay,
To shelter in bleak autumn weather.
Oh, soft summer winds; oh, beautiful woods,
Sing on for the children yet coming,
Sing sweet songs of love while the young turtle doves
Are cradled to sleep with your humming.
And when in the autumn the leaves turn to gold,
And sigh for the wind that will sever,
They’ll sing once again your sweet plaintive strain,
And the music will go on forever.
6. Who Has Seen the Wind?
by Christina Rossetti
Who has seen the wind?
Neither I nor you:
But when the leaves hang trembling,
The wind is passing through.
Who has seen the wind?
Neither you nor I:
But when the trees bow down their heads,
The wind is passing by.
7. The Autumn Wind
by John Clare
1
The Autumn wind on suthering wings
Plays round the oak-tree strong
And through the hawthorn hedges sings
The years departing song
There’s every leaf upon the whirl
Ten thousand times an hour
The grassy meadows crisp and curl
With here and there a flower
There’s nothing in the world I find
That pleases like the Autumn wind.
2
The chaffinch flies from out the bushes
The bluecap ” tee hees” on the tree
The wind sues on in merry gushes
His murmuring autumns minstrelsy
The robin sings his autumn song
Upon the crabtree overhead
The clouds like smoak slow sail along
Leaves rustle like the human tread
There’s nothing suits my musing mind
So pleasant as the Autumn wind.
3
How many miles it suthers on
And stays to dally with the leaves
And when the first broad blast is gone
A stronger gust the foliage heaves
The poplar tree it turns to gray
As leaves lift up their underside
The birch it dances all the day
To rippling billows petrified
There’s nothing calms the quiet mind
So welcome as the Autumn wind.
4
Sweet twittering o’er the meadow grass
Soft sueing o’er the fallow ground
The lark starts up as on they pass
With many a gush and moaning sound
It fans the feathers of the bird
And ruffs the robins ruddy breast
As round the hovel end it whirled
Then sobs and gallops o’er the west
In solitude the musing mind
Must ever love the Autumn wind.
Poems about Leaves for Kindergarten
Even young children can appreciate the beauty and wonder of leaves. In this category, you will find poems that are suitable for kindergarten-age children, introducing them to the natural world and the joy of poetry.
1. November
by Philip Edward Thomas
November’s days are thirty:
November’s earth is dirty,
Those thirty days, from first to last;
And the prettiest thing on ground are the paths
With morning and evening hobnails dinted,
With foot and wing-tip overprinted
Or separately charactered,
Of little beast and little bird.
The fields are mashed by sheep, the roads
Make the worst going, the best the woods
Where dead leaves upward and downward scatter.
Few care for the mixture of earth and water,
Twig, leaf, flint, thorn,
Straw, feather, all that men scorn,
Pounded up and sodden by flood,
Condemned as mud.
But of all the months when earth is greener
Not one has clean skies that are cleaner.
Clean and clear and sweet and cold,
They shine above the earth so old,
While the after-tempest cloud
Sails over in silence though winds are loud,
Till the full moon in the east
Looks at the planet in the west
And earth is silent as it is black,
Yet not unhappy for its lack.
Up from the dirty earth men stare:
One imagines a refuge there
Above the mud, in the pure bright
Of the cloudless heavenly light:
Another loves earth and November more dearly
Because without them, he sees clearly,
The sky would be nothing more to his eye
Than he, in any case, is to the sky;
He loves even the mud whose dyes
Renounce all brightness to the skies.
2. The Oak
by Michael Collins
A tree’s leaves in the fall
are some orange, some red
and for a small bird
they make quite a bed
The branches of trees
are some curved; some straight
and some even form
a small figure eight
The trunk of the tree
is the base of itself
quite like in a library,
a rusty old shelf
The roots of the tree
go deep, deep down
like a buried treasure
never to be found
Trees need sunshine,
water, and dirt
without these things
they could get hurt
Trees can do things
that I wish I could
If you’re looking for one
I’d check in the woods!
3. October
by Robert Frost
O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
To-morrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
To-morrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow,
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know;
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away;
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.
4. Taking a Walk
by Mary Jackson Ellis
Taking a walk is so much fun.
We don’t hurry;
we don’t run.
We watch for birds; we watch
for bees.
We look for all the falling leaves.
5. Willow Poem
by William Carlos
It is a willow when summer is over,
a willow by the river
from which no leaf has fallen
nor bitten by the sun
turned orange or crimson.
The leaves cling and grow paler,
swing and grow paler
over the swirling waters of the river
as if loath to let go,
they are so cool, so drunk with
the swirl of the wind and of the river—
oblivious to winter,
the last to let go and fall
into the water and on the ground.
6. Autumn
by Alexander Posey
“In the dreamy silence
Of the afternoon, a
Cloth of gold is woven
Over wood and prairie;
And the jaybird, newly
Fallen from the heaven,
Scatters cordial greetings,
And the air is filled with
Scarlet leaves, that, dropping,
Rise again, as ever,
With a useless sigh for
Rest – and it is Autumn.”
7. Pleasant Sounds
by John Clare
The rustling of leaves under the feet in woods and under
hedges;
The crumpling of cat-ice and snow down wood-rides,
narrow lanes and every street causeway;
Rustling through a wood or rather rushing, while the wind
halloos in the oak-toop like thunder;
The rustle of birds’ wings startled from their nests or flying
unseen into the bushes;
The whizzing of larger birds overhead in a wood, such as
crows, puddocks, buzzards;
The trample of robins and woodlarks on the brown leaves.
and the patter of squirrels on the green moss;
The fall of an acorn on the ground, the pattering of nuts on
the hazel branches as they fall from ripeness;
The flirt of the groundlark’s wing from the stubbles –
how sweet such pictures on dewy mornings, when the
dew flashes from its brown feathers.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, poems about leaves provide a beautiful way to express the changing seasons and the passage of time.
From the green leaves of spring and summer to the golden leaves of fall, these poems capture the natural beauty and symbolism of foliage.
They can inspire us to appreciate the small wonders of nature and to reflect on the cycles of life and death.
Whether short and sweet or long and more contemplative, these poems about leaves offer a wide range of styles and perspectives.
We hope that this collection of classic leaves poems will inspire readers to connect with the beauty and complexity of the natural world.
