Classic and Contemporary Poetry
AUTUMN, by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: How memory cuts away the years Last Line: High priestess of your home. | ||||||||
(For my Mother) How memory cuts away the years, And how clean the picture comes Of autumn days, brisk and busy; Charged with keen sunshine. And you, stirred with activity; The spirit of these energetic days. There was our back-yard, So plain and stripped of green, With even the weeds carefully pulled away From the crooked, red bricks that made the walk, And the earth on either side so black. Autumn and dead leaves burning in the sharp air; And winter comforts coming in like a pageant. I shall not forget them: Great jars laden with the raw green of pickles, Standing in a solemn row across the back of the porch, Exhaling the pungent dill; And in the very center of the yard, You, tending the great catsup kettle of gleaming copper Where fat, red tomatoes bobbed up and down Like jolly monks in a drunken dance. And there were bland banks of cabbages that came by the wagon-load, Soon to be cut into delicate ribbons Only to be crushed by the heavy, wooden stompers. Such feathery whiteness -- to come to kraut! And after, there were grapes that hid their brightness under a grey dust, Then gushed thrilling, purple blood over the fire; And enameled crab-apples that tricked with their fragrance But were bitter to taste. And there were spicy plums and ill-shaped quinces, And long string beans floating in pans of clear water Like slim, green fishes. And there was fish itself, Salted, silver herring from the city . . . And you moved among these mysteries, Absorbed and smiling and sure; Stirring, tasting, measuring, With the precision of a ritual. I like to think of you in your years of power -- You, now so shaken and so powerless -- High priestess of your home. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CLOTHES by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER MATER IN EXTREMIS by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER OLD MAN by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER RESCUE by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER SELF-REJECTED by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER THEY SAY - . by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER TONE PICTURE (MALIPIERO: IMPRESSONI DAL VERO) by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER LULLABY FOR A MAN-CHILD by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER SINFONIA DOMESTICA by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER THE PASSIONATE SWORD by JEAN STARR UNTERMEYER |
|