I've only just noticed that the martins have flown
And their music has gone from the wire.
There's still a good hour for the sun to go down
But already I'm lighting the fire.
And we welcomed the springtime the martins and I,
Now October will find me alone.
There's a pain in a parting without a goodbye.
I've just noticed the martins have flown.
Hear the high lonesome call as the wild geese pass o'er
Like a freight train way up in the blue.
As the arrows of autumn to a far southern shore
Are flying so straight and so true.
And we're both birds of passage, the graylag and I,
For the journey is all we have known.
But the long winding road and the vast empty sky
Will be there when the wild geese have flown.
And a starburst of chaffinches rise from the wind
And scatter like leaves on the air.
When the summer days end and the autumn begins
Is a secret the trees never share.
And we'll lean to the leeward, the tall pines and I,
When the northerlies cut to the bone.
And the birch and the willow and ash heave a sigh
When the last summer breezes have blown.
As the dance of the seasons goes round and around
There's a time for all nature to rest
When the green summer pastures have faded to brown
And the forest with color is blessed.
We'll waltz into winter the autumn and I
In a flurry of russet and gold
And the swirl of the snowflakes falling down from the sky
As we watch her white blanket unfold
We'll waltz into winter my sweetheart and I
In the warmth of the love we have known
And give thanks for another good year that's gone by
As the closer together we've grown.