AUTUMN – A poem composed by six girls of School Section No. 6, Willoughby

[Welland Tribune, 29 September 1897]

Glorious autumn days have come,
Summer smiles are gone;
The woods are robed in varied hues,
The birds have southward flown.

Because our clime is too severe,
Therefore they hie away;
But ere they go, their sweetest notes
Gladden our autumn day.

The flowers too, died long ago;
Their fragrance we miss so oft,
But we hope next spring will bring then forth,
With their beauty, rare and soft.

New autumn joys will soon be past,
The winter will soon be here,
And we must a supply of food lay by
To keep us in good cheer.

The same as the busy little squirrel
Who gathers for winter’s food
His store of delicious hickory nuts
To feed his little brood.

So let us then improve our time,
Through every autumn day,
And thus prepare for wintry blasts,
While everything is gay.