Barbarous in beauty


"Summer ends now; now, barbarous in beauty, the
Stooks arise
Around; up above, what wind-walks! what
lovely behavior
Of silk-sack clouds! Has wilder, willful-waiver
Meal-drift molded ever and melted across skies?"
-   Gerard Manly Hopkins, Hurrahing in Harvest, 1918

I wanted to find something that would sum up September in the garden, 'barbarous in beauty' fitted the bill exactly.  What an amazing phrase.
September is a month of turn and change.  It is a month full of hope in the garden: fruit is falling from the trees in ripeness: leading to jam making, pie, crumble and cake making and oodles of apple sauce.  The dahlias are at their best and the zinnias are flowering like crazy.  It is the month of conkers, that brief period of horse chestnut beauty.  The pinkness of the summer borders is giving way to oranges and yellows again.  As we start in the Spring, we end in the Autumn.  It is a cliche, but the circle does keep turning.
The first Autumn crocus is always a joy.  Another sign of the season change is when I mow and scythe my meadow area.  My lawn usually gets a full cut once or twice a year and whilst I love the meadow when it is in full flow, I like the calm and peace of the grass when it just stretches out towards the winter.
September is a time to reflect, to think about the summer just disappearing and the autumn that is on its way in. 

Comments

  1. I'm with you all the way on this one - love September.

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  2. Currently the sun is shining, its a bit blowly but allegedly it will rain later - its not not, but a real autumnal day - love this September very much.

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  3. What a positive, optimistic post. I tend to view Autumn a bit negatively, as the beginning of the end of another year, although I love the rich colours. So many poets loved this time of year too, didn't they?

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