Friday, October 18, 2013

Indian Summer

Autumn Song
Margaret Elizabeth Sangster


Let's go down the road together, you and I,


Let's go down the road together,
Through the vivid autumn weather


Let's go down the road together when the red leaves fly.


Let's go searching, searching after
Joy and mirth and love and laughter--


Let's go down the road together, you and I.



October's Bright Blue Weather
Helen Hunt Jackson


O sun and skies and clouds of June
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October's bright blue weather.


When loud the bumblebee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless, vagrant,
And goldenrod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;


When gentians roll their fringes tight,
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burs
Without a sound of warning;


When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;


When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields, still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;


When springs run low, and on the brooks
In idle, golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods for winter waiting.


When comrades seek sweet country haunt
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers hour by hour
October's bright blue weather.


O sun and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October's bright blue weather.






Autumn Day
Rainer Maria Rilke


Lord, it is time.
Summer was very grand.
Now cast your shadow on the sundials,
and loose the winds on the open fields.


Command the last fruits to be full;
give them two more southerly days.
Force them into perfection and
chase the last sweetness into heavy wine. 


Who has no house will not build one now,
Who is now alone will stay alone,
will wake and read and write long letters
and wander up and down the streets restlessly,
driven like leaves.

8 comments:

Wilma said...

As a retired English teacher, I love the poems. I live in West Virginia which is the only whole state in the area considered Appalachia. We have a rich culture in music and literature. I developed a course in Appalachian Literature when teaching and one of the authors with whom I became familiar was George Ella Lyon. You might want to Google her and review her writings. The first poem reminded me of her children's book, "Who Came Down That Road?" I had the privilege to meet her several times and to also meet the illustrator of this book.

Thank you for the beautiful pictures. Our mountains are so majestic this time of year. It's a wonder time to be alive!

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Thanks for the tip, Wilma :D

Monica said...

beautiful words to go with beautiful pictures! Thank you for the beauty you added to my house cleaning day! :D

The Hibbard Family said...

Gorgeous! We get to go soon to a part of our southern world where the colors are majestic. This post makes me that much more excited to go!

Choate Family said...

I think you did this post just for me! Thanks for helping me pretend it is Autumn here :-)

Kim said...

Beautiful pictures. I enjoyed peeking at your neck of the woods.

The dB family said...

Simply breathtaking!!

Blessings!
Deborah

Jena Webber said...

Wow! Those are beautiful pictures!! impressive. I can tell that you love fall even more than I do--if that is possible!!