Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


SONNET: SEPTEMBER, 1880 by CONSTANCE CAROLINE WOODHILL NADEN

First Line: TO STILL SEPTEMBER COMES A DREAM OF JOY
Last Line: RENEWING EARTH BY TERROR AND BY HOPE.
Subject(s): AUTUMN; SEASONS; FALL;

TO still September comes a dream of joy:
The breath of dying roses in the calm
And sultry air, seems changed to hyacinth-balm;
Fresh beams and breezes waken, such as toy
With amorous wind-flowers and May-lilies coy:
Raise, oh ye birds, a wild conjubilant psalm!
Autumn has reached the goal, has gained the palm,
And Winter comes not surely to destroy.

Nay, prosperous Autumn! not for thee shall ope
May's blossoms; nor for thy dull ear shall sing
Her choir of birds; thine own winds whirl away
Thy golden vapours, and thy rich decay,
Till Winter come, stern pioneer of Spring,
Renewing Earth by terror and by hope.






Home: PoetryExplorer.net