"We met in spring," he said, and heard wild geese Crying out of the cloudy north. "We met In spring," she said, and saw the autumn lake, And strange weeds burning by the quiet road. "We met in spring," he said, and heard the wind Rustling its bony fingers through the corn That early frosts had plundered. "And I think We loved in spring," she said, "it seems ... we loved All through an afternoon of rain and light. I think we loved," she said, and saw the sky Streaked by the smoke of bonfires, and the valley Swimming away through haze to sleeping hills, And all the rotten richness of the earth Debauched already by October, and Blurred distances that yawned with mellow softness Like a picture snapped by a poorly-focused camera. "And now," he said, "we cannot even grasp The autumn in our fingers. We've tried ... we've tried. But always it eludes us ..." "Yes," she said, "We've tried. I think it's running very fast, I think it's leaving soon. I think we can't Hold autumn now because it runs so fast. I think we can't hold anything," she said. "I think we can't," he said, and saw the north Where winter waited. "It will come," he said. "Winter will come. You mark my words," he said. She nodded slowly. "I suppose ..." she said. "It gets dark early, doesn't it? ..." she said. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE AEOLIAN HARP by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE A DEDICATION by THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH SONG: 3 by ANNA LETITIA BARBAULD A WHITE NIGHT by MATHILDE BLIND THIEPVAL WOOD by EDMUND CHARLES BLUNDEN THE WANDERER: 2. IN FRANCE: 'PRENSUS IN AEGAEO' by EDWARD ROBERT BULWER-LYTTON |