Pale amber sunlight falls across The reddening October trees....Are we not better and at home In dreamful Autumn, we who deem No harvest joy is worth a dream?A little while and night shall come,A little while, then, let us dream...
~Ernest Dowson (1867–1900), "Autumnal"
Magnificent Autumn! He comes not like a pilgrim, clad in russet weeds. He comes not like a hermit, clad in gray. But he comes like a warrior, with the stain of blood upon his brazen mail. His crimson scarf is rent.... The wind.... wafts to us the odor of forest leaves, that hang wilted on the dripping branches, or drop into the stream. Their gorgeous tints are gone, as if the autumnal rains had washed them out. Orange, yellow, and scarlet, all are changed to one melancholy russet hue.... There is a melancholy and continual roar in the tops of the tall pines.... It is the funeral anthem of the dying year.
