1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Women's History

Poems by Women

Late September

Amy Lowell

Tang of fruitage in the air;
Red boughs bursting everywhere;
Shimmering of seeded grass;
Hooded gentians all a'mass.

Warmth of earth, and cloudless wind
Tearing off the husky rind,
Blowing feathered seeds to fall
By the sun-baked, sheltering wall.

Beech trees in a golden haze;
Hardy sumachs all ablaze,
Glowing through the silver birches.
How that pine tree shouts and lurches!

From the sunny door-jamb high,
Swings the shell of a butterfly.
Scrape of insect violins
Through the stubble shrilly dins.

Every blade's a minaret
Where a small muezzin's set,
Loudly calling us to pray
At the miracle of day.

Then the purple-lidded night
Westering comes, her footsteps light
Guided by the radiant boon
Of a sickle-shaped new moon.

From Sword Blades and Poppy Seeds By Amy Lowell

This poet: [Back] [Up] [Next]
[Author index]

[Back to previous page]

This collection assembled by Jone Johnson Lewis.
Collection © 1999-2002 Jone Johnson Lewis.

Citing poems from these pages:

Author. "Poem Title."  Women's History: Poems by Women. Jone Johnson Lewis, editor. URL: (date of logon)

Explore Women's History

More from About.com

  1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Women's History

©2008 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.