| James and Mary Ford, eds. Every Day in the Year. 1902. | | | | October 1 | | October | | By Dinah Maria Mulock Craik (1826–1887) |
| | | IT is no joy to me to sit | |
| On dreamy summer eves, | |
| When silently the timid moon | |
| Kisses the sleeping leaves, | |
| And all things through the fair hushed earth | 5 |
| Love, rest,—but nothing grieves. | |
| Better I like old autumn, | |
| With his hair tossed to and fro, | |
| Firm striding o’er the stubble-fields | |
| When the equinoctials blow. | 10 |
| |
| When shrinkingly the sun creeps up | |
| Through misty mornings cold, | |
| And robin on the orchard hedge | |
| Sings cheerily and bold, | |
| While heavily the frosted plum | 15 |
| Drops downward on the mold; | |
| And as he passes autumn | |
| Into earth’s lap does throw | |
| Brown apples gay in a game of play, | |
| As the equinoctials blow. | 20 |
| |
| When the spent year its carol sings | |
| Into a humble psalm, | |
| Asks no more for the pleasure draught, | |
| But for the cup of balm, | |
| And all its storms and sunshine bursts | 25 |
| Controls to one brave calm,— | |
| Then step by step walks autumn, | |
| With steady eyes that show | |
| Nor grief nor fear, to the death of the year | |
| While the equinoctials blow. | 30 | | | |
|
|
