Meaning of “My life is in the falling leaf: O…”

Final line of Ode to the West Wind; the changing seasons become a metaphor for historical and personal renewal.

Lilith: A Romance; Project Gutenberg #1640. Spoken by Mara to Lilith in a theological fantasy scene; it is not presented as empirical evidence about death or an afterlife.

A Psalm of Life, in the stanza beginning “Trust no Future.”

Anne of Green Gables, Anne’s hopeful reflection about tomorrow.

Leaves of Grass (1855), untitled first-edition poem later known as “Song of Myself,” printed page 56 (Wikisource scan page 62). The line belongs to the poem’s final movement, later numbered section 52; the 1855 record remains tied to the unnumbered first edition rather than inheriting later section structure.

Jo's Boys; the reassurance follows a setback and reframes a difficult year as experience that may later prove unusually helpful rather than simply wasted time.