No sun--no moon!
No morn--no noon!
No dawn--no dusk--no proper time of day--
No sky--no earthly view--
No distance looking blue--
No road--no street--no "t'other side this way"--
No end to any Row--
No indications where the Crescents go--
No top to any steeple--
No recognitions of familiar people--
No courtesies for showing 'em--
No knowing 'em!
No traveling at all--no locomotion--
No inkling of the way--no notion--
"No go" by land or ocean--
No mail--no post--
No news from any foreign coast--
No Park, no Ring, no afternoon gentility--
No company--no nobility--
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member--
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds--
November!
-- Thomas Hood
I first read this poem in "The Book Of Knowledge" as a child. Not a single
November passes that I don't think of it.
It describes our Missouri weather these recent days to a "t".
Do you suppose Thomas Hood had Seasonal Affective Disorder?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
November
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I learned Robert Louis Stevenson's "My Shadow" in first grade and that one has never left me, either. Funny how things stick with us for a lifetime, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWell that's kind of sad. I actually thought he was talking of death because I didn't notice the title. But I suppose winter is the elements' representation of it. I'm not a big fan of winter but give it a bit of a break. What about hot chocolate, hot baths, and reading by warm fires? Those are great and things reserved mostly for winter!
ReplyDeleteThis past November week in PA was wet, humid, and raw...not too cold, but a yucky sticky humid kind of weather that the poem speaks of.
ReplyDeleteSo true, so true. I'm going to share this one with my boys!
ReplyDeleteA day to give thanks to the many vets for sure. 'On Ya'- ma
ReplyDeleteThat describes our weather right now as well. I guess I can't complain too much, though, because it has been so nice so far this Fall.
ReplyDelete