Friday, October 16, 2015

Poetry Friday: October


I hope the October you're having is as crisply beautiful as the October we're having here. This poem by Helen Hunt Jackson says it all. 

October
Helen Hunt Jackson

Bending above the spicy woods which blaze,
Arch skies so blue they flash, and hold the sun
Immeasurably far; the waters run
Too slow, so freighted are the river-ways
With gold of elms and birches from the maze
Of forests. Chestnuts, clicking one by one,
Escape from satin burs; her fringes done,
The gentian spreads them out in sunny days,
And, like late revelers at dawn, the chance
Of one sweet, mad, last hour, all things assail,
And conquering, flush and spin; while, to enhance
The spell, by sunset door, wrapped in a veil
Of red and purple mists, the summer, pale,
Steals back alone for one more song and dance.

("October" is in the public domain.)

Read more about Helen Hunt Jackson (who befriended Emily Dickinson when they were children) here at The Poetry Foundation.
~~~~~

Amy Ludwig Vanderwater has the round-up at The Poem Farm.

(Photo above courtesy of FreeImages.com

7 comments:

Amy LV said...

Wow. This is simply gorgeous. I love that "spicy" and "clicking" and so true about that blue... Love these days and this poem. Happy Poetry Friday! xo

jama said...

You're right -- this gorgeous poem says it all so beautifully. Hadn't seen this one before. Thank you!

Linda B said...

New to me, yet we have just been saying that summer lingers here, but trees and flowers are faded. Thanks, Karen, I will keep this one to savor.

Kelly Polark said...

It's been a beautiful October in the Midwest and this poem says it all!

Tabatha said...

I went to check YouTube to see if anyone had recorded this -- doesn't it beg for a good recording? I was hoping Tom Hiddleston had read it, or Richard Armitage. I'm sorry to say that I didn't find any at all. It is lovely.

Mary Lee said...

October is the best month of them all.

Karen Edmisten said...

So happy to find so many fellow October fans! :) Thanks, all, for stopping by the spicy woods. Tabatha, if you ever find that recording, let me know. :) (I agree it calls out for one!)