An October Garden

by Christina Georgina Rossetti — a poem card from Justes Mots

A contemplative poem mourning autumn's last rose—beautiful precisely because it blooms late and imperfectly. Rossetti elevates the overlooked beauty of decline, finding value in what persists despite seasonal waning. Resonates with themes of aging, resilience, and appreciating beauty in diminished circumstances.

In my Autumn garden I was fain
To mourn among my scattered roses;
Alas for that last rosebud which uncloses
To Autumn's languid sun and rain
When all the world is on the wane!
Which has not felt the sweet constraint of June,
Nor heard the nightingale in tune.
…

Themes: sympathy · grief · reflection