October Weather

There’s a certain eerie sadness
Tempered with exultant gladness
In October weather.
Vanished is June’s fertile sweetness,
July’s mellow rare completeness;
August fleeing with September
Leaves a beauty earth remembers
In October weather.

The long rows of china aster
Stiffly face a sure disaster,
The vine grasped by the frost’s keen fingers
Shrivels where it deserted lingers;
Summer suns are mirrored brightly
From the trees the frosts touch lightly
In October weather.
There’s the courage of the mountains
And the daring of the rivers,
There’s the wisdom of the meadows
Autumn holds and guards forever,
And they give a ripened gladness
Tinctured with a shadowy sadness
To October weather.