Still and still

Last Week in October

 

The trees are undressing, and fling in many places--

On the gray road, the roof, the window-sill--

Their radiant robes and ribbons and yellow laces; 

A leaf each second so is flung at will,
Here, there, another and another, still and still.

26 October 2025

A spider's web has caught one while downcoming,

That stays there dangling when the rest pass on;
Like a suspended criminal hangs he, mumming
In golden garb, while one yet green, high yon,
Trembles, as fearing such a fate for himself anon. 

 

~ Thomas Hardy, reprinted in Autumn: an anthology for the changing seasons, edited by Melissa Harrison (London, 2016), p. 153