Labor and the Angel

Chapter 38: AUTUMN SONG.

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About This Book

A collection of lyrical and narrative poems that intertwine rural and natural imagery with meditations on work, love, and moral responsibility. Poems depict harvests, seasonal change, and small lives—often pairing intimate domestic scenes with broader social observation—while recurring angelic and spiritual motifs frame labor as both suffering and sacred duty. Several sequences offer seasonal songs and short dramatic narratives; others turn to elegiac or reflective moods, addressing poverty, endurance, consolation, and the consolatory powers of love and service. The tone ranges from vivid sensory description to moral and communal critique, united by plain diction and musical cadence.

AUTUMN SONG.

Sing me a song of the autumn clear,
With the mellow days and the ruddy eves;
Sing me a song of the ending year,
With the piled-up sheaves.

Sing me a song of the apple bowers,
Of the great grapes the vine-field yields,
Of the ripe peaches bright as flowers,
And the rich hop-fields.

Sing me a song of the fallen mast,
Of the sharp odor the pomace sheds,
Of the purple beets left last
In the garden beds.

Sing me a song of the toiling bees,
Of the long flight and the honey won,
Of the white hives under the apple-trees,
In the hazy sun.

Sing me a song of the thyme and the sage,
Of sweet-marjoram in the garden gray,
Where goes my love Armitage
Pulling the summer savory.

Sing me a song of the red deep,
The long glow the sun leaves,
Of the swallows taking a last sleep
In the barn eaves.