In the October afternoon
Orange and purple and maroon,

Goes quiet Autumn, lamp in hand,
About the apple-colored land,

To light in every apple-tree
The Lanterns of St. Eulalie.

They glimmer in the orchard shade
Like fiery opals set in jade,--

Crimson and russet and raw gold,
Yellow and green and scarlet old.

And O when I am far away
By foaming reef or azure bay,

In crowded street or hot lagoon,
Or under the strange austral moon,--

When the homesickness comes to me
For the great marshes by the sea,

The running dikes, the brimming tide,
And the dark firs on Fundy side,

In dream once more I shall behold,
Like signal lights, those globes of gold

Hung out in every apple-tree--
The Lanterns of St. Eulalie.

 ~ William Bliss Carman

Recommend this article...