Poems (Jackson)/October (The month of carnival of all the year)
For works with similar titles, see October.
OCTOBER.
HE month of carnival of all the year,When Nature lets the wild earth go its way,And spend whole seasons on a single day.The spring-time holds her white and purple dear;October, lavish, flaunts them far and near;The summer charily her reds doth layLike jewels on her costliest array;October, scornful, burns them on a bier.The winter hoards his pearls of frost in signOf kingdom: whiter pearls than winter knew,Or Empress wore, in Egypt's ancient line,October, feasting 'neath her dome of blue,Drinks at a single draught, slow filtered throughSunshiny air, as in a tingling wine!