Classic Poem

It was only a little leaf,
That hung for a while on its bough:
It danced and fluttered: but life was brief,
And its place is vacant now.

It was only a little leaf;
Did it pay to live at all?
The sun smiled on it, the cold rains came,
And then it was doomed to fall.

It was only a little leaf;
But on it did shine the sun,
The winds did caress it, the birds did sing,
And it lived till its work was done.

It was only a little leaf,
But it took its gladsome part
In the great earth's life; and, at the last,
Earth clasped it to her heart.