Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AUTUMN WEATHER, by KATHARINE LEE BATES



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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AUTUMN WEATHER, by                 Poet Analysis     Poet's Biography
First Line: Had I a flute made out of the heart
Last Line: Of a seven-year cherry tree!
Subject(s): Autumn; Flutes; Seasons; Fall


Had I a flute made out of the heart
Of a seven-year cherry tree,
How blithely would I bear my part
In the day's wild minstrelsy;
A world all glitter, whistle and twitter,
Whir of a rising quail,
Rustling edges of saffron sedges,
Flirt of a squirrel tail,
Robin conventions in meadows of gentians,
Debating the hour to fly,
While the birch, a goddess in silver bodice,
Waves them a gay goodbye!

I love the laughter that follows after
Knowledge of life's keen cost,
As I love the swirling of leaves unfurling
New colors to flout the frost,
Leaves worn meagre but swift and eager
As the merry winds pipe them on
To their last cotillion in frocks vermillion,
Amber and cinnamon;
As I love the valor of flowers whose pallor
Carries a fragrance yet,
On whose crisping petals the moth still settles
For a passing pirouette.

O trumpet-blowing of gales, O glowing
Of maples and oaks that shine
Flame on the altar, gold on the psalter,
Till the earth is so divine
That the acorns falling are rosaries calling
The faith of the woods to burn,
And mid poplar candles God walks in sandals
Embroidered with bronze of fern!
How blithely would I bear my part
In anthem and litany,
Had I a flute made out of the heart
Of a seven-year cherry tree!





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