Featured Poem: To Autumn by John Clare

We're embracing the virtues of autumn in this week's Featured Poem with a suitable ode from John Clare.

As the temperature drops and the winds pick up, it's easy to lament the passing of summer days and descend into full wintery grief but no! There is so much about autumn to be celebrated before we give way to winter (and the dreaded C word which creeps into conversation earlier and earlier each year!).

Luckily we have John Clare to remind us of the virtues of autumn!

To Autumn

Come, pensive Autumn, with thy clouds and storms
And falling leaves and pastures lost to flowers;
A luscious charm hangs on thy faded forms,
More sweet than Summer in her loveliest hours,
Who in her blooming uniform of green
Delights with samely and continued joy:
But give me, Autumn, where thy hand hath been,
For there is wildness that can never cloy -
The russet hue of fields left bare, and all
The tints of leaves and blossoms ere they fall.
In thy dull days of clouds a pleasure comes,
Wild music softens in thy hollow winds;
And in thy fading woods a beauty blooms
That's more than dear to melancholy minds.

John Clare