Part One in the Series
Over the next few weeks, I wish to share and briefly comment upon some of my favourite poems for this time of year.
Following my fifteenth wedding anniversary, I am reminded why my husband and I chose this time of year to each be bound before God to our beloved. Autumn offers the season of fruitfulness; its palette is warm and its scents are intense. It marks a season of storehousing hope, of looking both backward and forward, of owning and reaping the fruits of faith.
Autumn takes the last streams of light into the growing dark. It speaks of promises fulfilled and yet also of preparing for the future, as we satiate ourselves with trust as the winds grow colder.
All this considered, then, here is my opening choice for the series: a beautiful poem entitled “God’s World” by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Why did I choose this poem? Because I love how it captures the awe at God’s grandeur in the world about us. How it settles, like leaves spiraling from trees, from burst of exclamation mark to the period of hallowed peace.
It speaks of having been struck dumb by a poignancy so sharp as to pierce us like a passion. And so it glows with the immensity of both the fruitfulness and the pause that the autumnal season brings in its golden glory between the verdant burst of spring that hazes into summer, and the whitening wait of winter.
Awe has its roots in fear and admiration. Fear of the Lord is the seed of wisdom, so Scripture reminds us. We are right to fear His artistry, around and within us. May you be struck by these words as I have been, and carry them into your heart as sustenance for winters ahead. A poem about attempting to speak the unspeakable, it is … about our being in our world, this world of God’s making:
GOD’S WORLD
by Edna St. Vincent Millay
O world, I cannot hold thee close enough!
Thy winds, thy wide grey skies!
Thy mists that roll and rise!
Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sag
And all but cry with colour! That gaunt crag
To crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!
World, World, I cannot get thee close enough!
Long have I known a glory in it all,
But never knew I this;
Here such a passion is
As stretcheth me apart. Lord, I do fear
Thou’st made the world too beautiful this year.
My soul is all but out of me, let fall
No burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call.
Lover of God, happy wife, mama to 4, writer, teacher, author of 
I was just thinking the day before yesterday how achingly rich and beautiful the world is in Autumn! Of course, spending time reading aloud the chapter about Lothlorien in Lord of the Rings to my children has sharpened my perception of all the golden leaves, and the feeling behind it. Also the sweet smell- Autumn is the best time to hang all your bedding on the line to dry!. God’s World, the poem and the thing itsself, said it all much better than I could have, though the ache is common in all of us, I think. Thank you for sharing! I also love your previous post. I was too full for words after reading it so I never ended up commenting, but I will return to it again and again.
Autumn is like life. A blaze of glory and richness, and an old sweetness different and quieter than the sharp clear sweetness of spring- and then it is cut off by winter. But we will awake to a spring some day that will be full of sweetness both old and new, with a rich gold mingling with the new green, and never another dead winter. I do miss northern winters though. The quiet sparkling snow is much better than the dead, grey, snowless cold down here. Maybe that blanket of white is like the garment of Christ covering and comforting us.
Thank you, Holly, for your thoughts here and in response to the last post, too. I love your description here. You make comments luxurious to read :)
Lovely poem! Autumn has been my favorite season for as long as I can remember, but even more so since both of my children were born in October. I researched Autumn poems the other day and made a list favorites to share on my blog along with fall photos I’ve taken. I just haven’t gotten around to posting yet. I’m inspired!
Ooooh, wonderful – can’t wait to read your selections, Katy. And how fun you have October babies. I love this time of year; it takes the sting out of losing summer …
myohmyohmy…not certain whose words cause a greater stir within my soul. God’s grandeur indeed.
May your marriage continue to know many blessings ~
Thank you, friend!
I’m on the other side of the world, so we are at the tail-end of spring, heading into summer! I love autumn too… actually, I love all the different seasons, they all have things associated with them that I look forward to. I would find it hard to live in a place that didn’t have distinctly different seasons, I love the changes!