Reflection on a September Poem
The first days of September
September by John Charles McNeill "I have not been among the woods, Nor seen the milk-weeds burst their hoods, The downy thistle-seeds take wing, Nor the squirrel at his garnering. And yet I know that, up to God, The mute month holds her goldenrod, That clump and copse, o'errun with vines, Twinkle with clustered muscadines, And in deserted churchyard places Dwarf apples smile with sunburnt faces. I know how, ere her green is shed, The dogwood pranks herself with red; How the pale dawn, chilled through and through, Comes drenched and draggled with her dew; How all day long the sunlight seems As if it lit a land of dreams, Till evening, with her mist and cloud, Begins to weave her royal shroud. If yet, as in old Homer's land, God walks with mortals, hand in hand, Somewhere to-day, in this sweet weather, Thinkest thou not they walk together?"
"September" by John Charles McNeill is a beautiful and thoughtful poem that leads the reader through the first days of fall. The imagery in this poem, which is pulled from a profound intimacy with the outdoors, makes one feel a deep connection with the way things change during September. The connection creates a sense of nostalgia and contemplation, as though one saw these changes with precision and depth.
The poem begins with the speaker admitting that they still have not been outside in the bush or seen those odd emissaries of the season: the milkweeds bursting or the thistle seeds flying. But even absent, the speaker's deep knowledge of the natural world is revealed to the reader. This profound understanding of the season's rhythms, gained through years of observation and appreciation, indicates a respect for nature's wisdom and insight that is both enlightening and humbling.
McNeill then describes the goldenrod, a classic autumn flower, and the muscadine vines, the clustered fruits twinkling in the sunlight. The poet's description of "deserted churchyard places," where "dwarf apples smile with sunburnt faces," gives rise to an effect of suggestive time passing and the cycle of life. Such images suggest a world that continues to be full of life and produces beauty even among the shades or places where attention is least likely to fall or is too briefly given.
The poem captures these delicate changes in the landscape as autumn gets underway. The dogwood tree starts to dress itself in red, a herald of the coming cold. The dawn, so bright and warm before, is now 'chilled through and through,' drenched with dew at summer's end. The sun that shines by day casts a dreamy quality, like one in the land where the world is in that ethereal balance between summer's bright incandescence and autumn's sharp subtlety, creating a sense of awe and appreciation for nature's artistry.
As evening draws near, McNeill alludes to how the mist and clouds start to "weave her royal shroud," The shroud is not only regal but also quite a grim forecast of the onset of night. This image of a shroud implies something final or an ending; it may portend the end of the season, the onset of winter's dormancy.
The poem's last lines add an air of contemplation, almost a spiritual quality. McNeill muses whether God still walks with men amidst this calm and fair weather, such as when the world was young and man first began to tell his story; the thought gives the poem an air of awe, as though September's loveliness were a time in which divinity approaches the earth so near as to partake in the peace and majesty of the scene. This contemplative tone invites the reader to reflect on the deeper meanings of the natural world and its place within it.
Overall, "September" resonates with those who find beauty in nature's subtle and often missed intentions. His words resonate with reflections on time's passage, the changing seasons, and hope for divine presence manifest in the natural world. Through his vivid descriptions and soft musings, McNeill captures the quiet majesty of September so well that it is a poem that remains in the mind like the soft light of an autumn afternoon.
