Poetry Sunday: October's Bright Blue Weather by Helen Hunt Jackson

I've always thought that the skies of October take on their own special shade of blue. It's a crisper and deeper color than the skies of summer that are washed out by bright sunlight or the skies of winter that often seem overlaid with frost. Helen Hunt Jackson understood what I'm trying to describe. She told us about it in this poem.

October's Bright Blue Weather 

by Helen Hunt Jackson

O suns 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 fingers tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
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 haunts,
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.

Comments

  1. I confess to not having noticed this facet of October skies, but it is predicted to be sunny today so I will make it a point to take a serious look.

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    Replies
    1. Yesterday was so bright blue for us. Today, the clouds are returning, giving us a taste of what our skies will be like for the rest of the fall and much of the winter. This poet is a keen observer of those fleeting sunny days.

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    2. Our days have mostly been bright blue this fall. I was just remarking recently about our lack of hurricanes or even significant storms during summer and now autumn. In addition to being "bright blue," it is really dry here.

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  2. Beautiful poem! I think all those deep autumn colors of the trees help give the blue of the sky that richness and depth in the fall. It's such a pretty time of year.

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    Replies
    1. You may be on to something, although honestly, we don't get much autumn color around here. Everything is green pretty much until December.

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