"Merry Autumn" by Paul Laurence Dunbar

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend November 19, 2017   Merry Autumn   Paul Laurence Dunbar

It's all a farce,—these tales they tell      About the breezes sighing, And moans astir o'er field and dell,      Because the year is dying.   Such principles are most absurd,—      I care not who first taught 'em; There's nothing known to beast or bird      To make a solemn autumn.   In solemn times, when grief holds sway      With countenance distressing, You'll note the more of black and gray      Will then be used in dressing.   Now purple tints are all around;      The sky is blue and mellow; And e'en the grasses turn the ground      From modest green to yellow.   The seed burrs all with laughter crack      On featherweed and jimson; And leaves that should be dressed in black      Are all decked out in crimson.   A butterfly goes winging by;      A singing bird comes after; And Nature, all from earth to sky,      Is bubbling o'er with laughter.   The ripples wimple on the rills,      Like sparkling little lasses; The sunlight runs along the hills,      And laughs among the grasses.   The earth is just so full of fun      It really can't contain it; And streams of mirth so freely run      The heavens seem to rain it.   Don't talk to me of solemn days      In autumn's time of splendor, Because the sun shows fewer rays,      And these grow slant and slender.   Why, it's the climax of the year,—      The highest time of living!— Till naturally its bursting cheer      Just melts into thanksgiving.            This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   "Merry Autumn" was originally published in Lyrics of Lowly Life (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1896).   Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in 1872 in Dayton, Ohio. He is the author of the poetry collections Majors and Minors (Hadley & Hadley, 1895) and Lyrics of the Hearthside (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1899), among other books. He died in 1906. Poetry by Dunbar   The Collected Poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar (University of Virginia Press, 1993) "To Autumn" by John Keats "When Autumn Came" by Faiz Ahmed Faiz "Home" by Bruce Weigl Help Support Poem-a-Day   If you value Poem-a-Day, please consider a monthly donation or one-time gift to help make it possible. Poem-a-Day is the only digital series publishing new, previously unpublished work by today's poets each weekday morning. The free series, which also features a curated selection of classic poems on weekends, reaches 450,000+ readers daily. Thank you! Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038