Fall brings sweater weather, spectacular displays of foliage, and harvest celebrations. For many, the equinox marks the start of a glorious season, filled with apple picking and pumpkin carving. For others, though, autumn is a melancholy reminder of summer's end—less cookouts and beach reading.
The best autumn poems capture this season of striking change, often using fall as a metaphor to explore the cycle of life. As Robert Frost wrote in one of his most famous poems, "Nothing gold can stay." That holds true for the yellow leaves of autumn, and the halcyon days of summer. From William Shakespeare to Rita Dove, autumn has animated famous thinkers and writers over the generations. If you're looking to curl up with a poetry book and a cozy cocktail when the sun goes down early, start with these poets. With poems ranging from rhyming and romantic to inspirational, they will speak to you...or at least to your followers on Instagram if you're in search of a simple (yet beautiful) fall quote.
"Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost
There's a good chance you can quote at least some of this poem from memory—thank you, high school English class. With only a few lines, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" captures the ephemeral nature of the fall season, and all of life's beautiful moments.
"Fall, leaves, fall" by Emily Brontë
Ever wish the weather outside always complemented your mood? Dreary weather, for dreary days. Emily Brontë, author of Wuthering Heights, longs for bad weather in this poem.
"To Autumn" by John Keats
Romantic poet John Keats waxes poetic, literally, about the scenery of the fall season in this famous poem. Keats progresses through the stages of the season, from ripening fruits to increasingly cold nights, displaying an appreciation for every moment. "Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? / Think not of them, thou hast thy music too," he writes.
"Sonnet 73" by William Shakespeare
"Sonnet 73" is undeniably one of William Shakespeare's more melancholy sonnets. Shakespeare compares fall to the aging process, and reflects upon growing old.
"The Heat of Autumn" by Jane Hirshfield
This short poem takes a surprising turn midway through, brilliantly applying the season's changes to human love, and all its varieties.
"Perhaps the World Ends Here" by Joy Harjo
"The world begins at a kitchen table," Joy Harjo's poem begins. "Perhaps the World Ends Here" is a meditation about the cycle of life—and the moments where we slow down, and take stock of our days, our years.
"A Sunset of the City" by Gwendolyn Brooks
Gwendolyn Brooks invents a new meaning for the word "autumn" in this poem: "It is summer-gone that I see, it is summer-gone." The autumn weather around her is a convenient metaphor for the arriving at the middle-age phase of her life.
"First Fall" by Maggie Smith
"First Fall," written from the perspective of a parent taking her infant for a walk, has one of our favorite poem endings: "I’m desperate for you to love the world because I brought you here."
"Poem" by Paul Carroll
Wandering aimlessly, the narrator of this poem is filled with sudden exuberance at being a small part of world around him. "Poem" by Paul Carroll has an infectious joy—read it, and you may also feel comfort in the stars, sky, and leaves around you: "There is only wonder."
"Autumn" by Alice Cary
Is it possible, in autumn, to get the feeling of spring back? The narrator of this poem finds that her life blossoms in fall, thanks to a relationship.
"l(a)" by e.e. cummings
e.e. cummings plays with form in this brief, clever poem about a leaf falling, which derives power in how the words are formatted on the page.
"November for Beginners" by Rita Dove
In autumn, we watch the past leave us, leaf by leaf. Rita Dove captures the season's melancholy with lines like these: We sit down / in the smell of the past / and rise in a light / that is already leaving."
"September Tomatoes" by Karina Borowicz
Some people accept the arrival of autumn. Others are more reluctant. "Something in me isn’t ready / to let go of summer so easily," Karina Borowicz writes in this poem about the last of summer's bounty.
"Song for Autumn" by Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver was known for her poems about nature. In this poem, she challenges readers to imagine how trees, birds, and even leaves must be feeling during the autumn season, giving personhood to the natural world.
"Leaves" by Elsie N. Brady
This rhyming poem about falling leaves is classroom-ready. "How silently they tumble down / And come to rest upon the ground / To lay a carpet, rich and rare / Beneath the trees without a care," Brady writes at the start of the poem, about nature's decorations.
"Theme in Yellow" by Carl Sandburg
The speaker of this humorous poem imagines himself as a—wait for it—
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