A Song of Autumn

by Arthur Hugh Clough — a poem card from Justes Mots

Clough uses autumn's decay as an extended metaphor for the departure of love and the devastation left behind. The speaker's home lies in ruins, summer is gone, and memory cannot restore what was lost. A deeply melancholic poem expressing irreversible loss, suitable for sympathy cards or memorial occasions.

My wind is turned to bitter north,
That was so soft a south before;
My sky, that shone so sunny bright,
With foggy gloom is clouded o'er
My gay green leaves are yellow-black,
Upon the dank autumnal floor;
For love, departed once, comes back
No more again, no more.…

Themes: sympathy · grief · reflection