Autumn

September

Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)  

The golden-rod is yellow;

The corn is turning brown;

The trees in apple orchards

With fruit are bending down.

The gentian's bluest fringes

Are curling in the sun;
In dusty pods the milkweed
Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges flaunt their harvest,

In every meadow nook;    
And asters by the brook-side  
Make asters in the brook,

From dewy lanes at morning

The grapes' sweet odors rise

At noon the roads all flutter  

With yellow butterflies.      

                               

By all these lovely tokens

September days are here,

With summer's best of weather,

And autumn's best of cheer.

My fourth grade teacher  (See my blog: The Hug That Teaches - February - http://jan-butterfliesandrainbows.blogspot.com/2010/02/she-was-one-of-those-people-that-you.html ) made her class memorize this lovely poem and I think I have recited it in my mind just about every fall since then. Ok, well I only remembered verses 1, 2 and 5; I had to google the rest. And I didn’t remember it was Helen Hunt Jackson that wrote it. That fact I found very interesting after owning my book store and having some of her books in my stock. There are still two more verses to this poem, but Mrs. Hunter didn't require us to memorize the last two.  I agree with my teacher's decision. These 5 are the best of Ms. Jackson's poem.

While it is no longer September, I definitely woke up to that kind of day today; so the poem went through my mind once again. I think it is beautiful, so I wanted to post it along with some photos
from my yard that I took this morning….
I know! I will never be a photographer, but I had fun out there in the yard this morning trying to get some photos of the lingering effects of Mr. Frost's visit again last night. This visit was not at all unexpected, but 25 degrees? Ouch! Have mercy!!   ;-)