A Book of the Seasons: October 1.

October 1.

Young and tender trees

assume the autumnal tints.

Severe frost last night

October 1, 1852

Conspicuous vines

curled, crisped, and browned by the frosts.

Some grapes still hang on.

October 1, 1853

Young black birches are

now clear pale yellow amid

the dense evergreens.

October 1, 1854

The black birches and

red maples about the pond

are conspicuous.

October 1, 1854

Windier cooler

now after rain in the night   

I wear two thin coats.
October 1, 1856

Silky parachutes

just ready to float away

when the wind rises.

October 1, 1856
  

Pines half turned yellow,

needles of this year so much

greener by contrast.

October 1, 1857

Maples mixed with the
evergreen pines at the base
of a pine-clad hill --

Yellow and scarlet
and crimson fires of all tints
mingled with the green.
October 1, 1858

Clear bright moonlight nights

(fulled at 9 the 29th)

Bright cold days after.

October 1, 1860

Morning frost and ice,
the leaves of trees stiff and white.
A wintry prospect.
October 1, 1860

A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau
"A book, each page written in its own season,
out-of-doors, in its own locality."

~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2015