October's Bright Blue Weather

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. 

Helen Hunt Jackson