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Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ARCTURUS IN AUTUMN by SARA TEASDALE

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHEN, IN THE GOLD OCTOBER DUSK, I SAW YOU NEAR TO SETTING
Last Line: YOU WILL NOT STAY TO SHARE OUR LENGTHENING NIGHT.
Subject(s): ARCTURUS;

When, in the gold October dusk, I saw you near to setting,
Arcturus, bringer of spring,
Lord of the summer nights, leaving us now in autumn,
Having no pity on our withering;

Oh then I knew at last that my own autumn was upon me,
I felt it in my blood,
Restless as dwindling streams that still remember
The music of their flood.

There in the thickening dark a wind-bent tree above me
Loosed its last leaves in flight --
I saw you sink and vanish, pitiless Arcturus,
You will not stay to share our lengthening night.



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