September in the Laurentian Hills / William Wilfred Campbell

September in the Laurentian Hills 

Already Winter in his sombre round,
     Before his time, hath touched these hills austere
With lonely flame. Last night, without a sound,
     The ghostly frost walked out by wood and mere.
And now the sumach curls his frond of fire,
     The aspen-tree reluctant drops his gold,
And down the gullies the North's wild vibrant lyre
     Rouses the bitter armies of the cold.

O'er this short afternoon the night draws down,
     With ominous chill, across these regions bleak;
Wind-beaten gold, the sunset fades around
     The purple loneliness of crag and peak,
Leaving the world an iron house wherein
Nor love nor life nor hope hath ever been.

~~

William Wilfred Campbell (1860-1918), 1895

from Beyond the Hills of Dream, 1899

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]

William Wilfred Campbell biography