Response

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This lovely poem is my favourite about autumn

Response

When you wrote your letter it was April,
And you were glad it was spring weather,
And that the sun shone in turn with showers of rain.

But I write in waning May and it is autumn,
And I am glad that my chrysanthemums
Are tied up fast to strong posts,
So that the south wind cannot beat them down.
I am glad that they are tawny-coloured,
And fiery in the low west evening light,
And I am glad that one bush warbler
Still sings in the honey-scented wattle…

But oh, we have remembering hearts,
And we say “How green it was in such and such an April,”
And “Such and such an autumn was very golden,”
And “Everything is for a very short time.”

Ursula Bethell