A Walk in the Woods

from North Wind in October

In the golden glade the chestnuts are fallen all;

From the sered boughs of the oaks the acorns fall;

The beech scatters her ruddy fire;

The lime has stripped to the cold,

And standeth naked above her yellow attire;

The larch thinneth her spire

To lay the ways of the wood with cloth of gold.

Out of the golden green and white

of the brake the fir trees stand upright

In the forest of flame, and wave aloft

To the blue of heaven their blue-green tuftings soft.

Robert Bridges (1844-1930)

A walk in the woods

on a sunny day in mid-October

There is a bench hidden in the woods

by the side of the pond.

Despite the sunshine there is a chill in the air.

It's better if we move on; walking will warm us up.

We'll follow the small brook which feeds the pond.

On the other side of the path are these wonderful, mossy tree trunks

going up the hill.

We'll stay on the leaf-strewn path, although Benno

would be very happy to follow his nose uphill.

The sunlight creates pretty patterns,

the woods are thinning out.

We're getting back into pasture land;

there's a bank of manure lying by the hedge.

And here we are back in the open fields.

The winter wheat is coming along nicely.

The photos can be enlarged.