Hello everyone –
The September Equinox arrives on Monday, September 23rd @ 2:50 AM (CDT), bringing with it the new season of autumn (despite the summerlike weather here in East Central Illinois!). Here is a quartet of classic poems to celebrate the arrival of autumn in the Midwest.
“Autumn” (1845)
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Thou comest, Autumn, heralded by the rain,
With banners, by great gales incessant fanned,
Brighter than brightest silks of Samarkand,
And stately oxen harnessed to thy wain!
Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne,
Upon thy bridge of gold; thy royal hand
Outstretched with benedictions o’er the land,
Blessing the farms through all thy vast domain!
Thy shield is the red Harvest Moon, suspended
So long beneath the heaven’s o’er-hanging eaves;
Thy steps are by the farmer’s prayers attended;
Like flames upon an altar shine the sheaves;
And, following thee, in thy ovation splendid,
Thine almoner, the wind, scatters the golden leaves!
“A Lyric of Autumn” (1904)
By William Stanley Braithwaite (1878-1962)
There is music in the meadows, in the air --
Autumn is here;
Skies are gray, but hearts are mellow,
Leaves are crimson, brown, and yellow;
Pines are soughing, birches stir,
And the Gypsy trail is fresh beneath the fir.
There is rhythm in the woods, and in the fields,
Nature yields:
And the harvest voices crying,
Blend with Autumn zephyrs sighing;
Tone and color, frost and fire,
Wings the nocturne Nature plays upon her lyre.
“Welcome to the Sun”
Anonymous – Collected in Scotland (19th Century)
[Editor’s Note: In the Germanic, Keltik, and Slavic languages – as well as in Japanese – the Sun is feminine and the Moon is masculine.]
Welcome to you, Sun of the seasons’ turning,
In your circuit of the high heavens;
Strong are your steps on the unfurled heights,
Glad Mother are you to the constellations.
You sink down into the ocean of want,
Without defeat, without scathe;
You rise up on the peaceful wave
Like a Queen in her maidenhood's flower.
FROM THE POEMS OF H. P. LOVECRAFT (1890-1937)
[Editor’s Note: H. P. Lovecraft is regarded by literary scholars as the “Edgar Allan Poe” of the 20th century. He was an imaginative author of “weird fiction” – a genre that combines science fiction, fantasy, and horror – and also an accomplished poet. His work has inspired, among others, the creators/writers of Babylon 5 and Doctor Who.]
Fungi from Yuggoth (A Sonnet Cycle)
By H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937)
(Yuggoth is the name of Pluto in HPL’s “weird fiction” and poetic writings. Fomalhaut, known as the “Lonely Star,” is the only bright star in the southern sky on autumn evenings as seen from the Midwest. It is known to have a planetary system and two dim companion stars, too.)
Sonnet XIV: “Star-Winds”
It is a certain hour of twilight glooms,
Mostly in autumn, when the star-wind pours
Down hilltop streets, deserted out-of-doors,
But shewing early lamplight from snug rooms.
The dead leaves rush in strange, fantastic twists,
And chimney-smoke whirls round with alien grace,
Heeding geometries of outer space,
While Fomalhaut peers in through southward mists.
This is the hour when moonstruck poets know
What fungi sprout in Yuggoth, and what scents
And tints of flowers fill Nithon’s continents,
Such as in no poor earthly garden blow.
Yet for each dream these winds to us convey,
A dozen more of ours they sweep away!
Happy September Equinox! :)
Rob
