... this was the view from the bus stop this morning. All mist and mellow fruitfulness.
... and this is the sun just starting to break through the fog as I approached my office.
AUTUMN by Kalidasa
THE autumn comes, a maiden fair
In slenderness and grace,
With nodding rice-stems in her hair
And lilies in her face.
In flowers of grasses she is clad;
And as she moves along,
Birds greet her with their cooing glad
Like bracelets' tinkling song.
A diadem adorns the night
Of multitudinous stars;
Her silken robe is white moonlight,
Set free from cloudy bars;
And on her face (the radiant moon)
Bewitching smiles are shown:
She seems a slender maid, who soon
Will be a woman grown.
Over the rice-fields, laden plants
Are shivering to the breeze;
While in his brisk caresses dance
The blossomed-burdened trees;
He ruffles every lily-pond
Where blossoms kiss and part,
And stirs with lover's fancies fond
The young man's eager heart.
This English translation of "Autumn" was composed by Arthur W. Ryder (1877-1938)On a horse called Autumn
(For Maureen) by Brian Patten
On a horse called autumn
among certain decaying things
she rides inside me, for
no matter where I move
this puzzled woman sings
of nude horsemen, breeched
in leather,
of stables decaying near
where once
riders came,
and where now alone
her heart journeys, among
lies I made real.
Now riding in truth
what alterations can I make
knowing nothing will change?
Things stay the same:
such journeys as hers
are the ones I care for.