Last night, I joined the Brotherhood of the Briar once again, this time with my friend Laura, who is visiting from Seattle. We had a rousing discussion around the bonfire, which included a generous amount of time thinking through about C.S. Lewis’s Til We Have Faces and then a good interlude listening to Professor Jerry Root share about his recent adventures in South Africa. But all of it began with Dennis reciting Helen Hunt Jackson’s poem, “October’s Bright Blue Weather.” I share the poem here because it is so right for this month and our beautiful, shining fall season.
“October’s Bright Blue Weather”
O SUNS and skies and clouds of June,
And flowers of June together,
Ye cannot rival for one hour
October’s bright blue weather;
When loud the bumble-bee makes haste,
Belated, thriftless vagrant,
And Golden-Rod is dying fast,
And lanes with grapes are fragrant;
When Gentians roll their fringes tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;
When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;
When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields, still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;
When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;
When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October’s bright blue weather.
O suns and skies and flowers of June,
Count all your boasts together,
Love loveth best of all the year
October’s bright blue weather.
Helen Hunt Jackson
Today, when the leaves on the tree outside my window are bright yellow — when the sky is clear blue, the air crisp, and the light almost tangibly bright — this poem sings through the soul. It is worth remembering, I think. I hope you will remember it.
[…] fail to be interesting (as I have noted before and in posts on the Brotherhood of the Briar — more than once!) for Jerry Root is a man with an expansive soul, a tender heart, and a brilliant mind. He is a […]
Hello! I hope you don’t mind me linking with this post, but I was searching for “October’s Bright Blue Weather” online and your website seemed to encapsulate everything about it that I wished to share … reverence, beauty, wonder, and an appreciation for the elegance of poetry. Thank you.
[…] “October’s Bright Blue Weather” was my piano teacher’s favorite poem. I think of her often at this time of year and I miss her… until I read “the poem” and smile. […]
I remember first hearing this poem in the third grade in sunny SO CAL and although I had not yet experienced the true seasons I felt something stir deep within my soul from the imagery of these lines. Years later I was enraptured by the way the seasons played out in New England but alas fifty years after first hearing these words they still strike a nerve back in sunny SO CAL.
I read poetry in high school competitions (they called it “declam”) and now I wanted to share it with my Bible Study group in the morning. Thanks so much for making it available . Paula in Salem, Oregon
I too was searching for “October’s Bright Blue Weather” online and I found your post. My 5th grade teacher, one of my favorites required her students to learn it. I was delighted to find it and also that you mentioned reading C.S. Lewis, another of my favorites.
An elderly woman came into a store where I work, Wit’s End. She overheard that i have an October birthday, and tried to recall this poem, but could only remember the line, ‘October’s Bright Blue Weather.” I told her I’d Google it. She seemed pleased.
It’s quite lovely and should be remembered. Isabel
My Mother has talked of the poem “Octobers Bright Blue weather” all of September and now October. She is 95 years old and as a child she had to memorize the poem in her school work. I bought her a book that has it in it,but I have looked it up on line about 3 times already this year and read it to her. When we are in the car riding she loves to ,look at and comment on ,the clouds and the blue sky. Always she brings up this poem. It has been a blessing to me ,to hear her remember “Octobers Bright Blue Weather.
I had to learn this poem for an English class more than 55 years ago. I still remember some of the lines! I also remember my mom helping me learn it with her gentle encouragement. I did. Brings tears to my eyes.
I remember this poem from grade school. In my day the teacher would recite poetry to us. I also remember “Trees” by Helen Hunt Jackson. Nothing nicer than a love of poetry. I thank my teacher for this.