Tag: Autumn

October’s Party

Published on by Isabella Alden2 Comments

It’s hard to believe tomorrow is the first day of October! The seasons are changing and in many people’s opinion, autumn is the loveliest season of the year. (Do you agree?)

Black and white illustration of a two squirrels feasting on nuts on a mound of earth surrounded by trees. In the top left corner of the illustration is the word "Oct.".

In 1892 Isabella published this whimsical little poem that captures the magical quality of autumn, when falling leaves seem to come alive with purposeful movements.

October’s Party

October gave a party—
The leaves by hundreds came—
The Chestnuts, Oaks, and Maples,
And leaves of every name;

The sunshine spread a carpet,
And everything was grand;
Miss Weather led the dancing,
Professor Wind the band.

The Chestnuts came in yellow,
The Oaks in crimson dressed;
The lovely Misses Maple
In scarlet looked their best.

All balanced to their partners,
And gaily fluttered by;
The sight was like a rainbow
New-fallen from the sky.

Then in the rustic hollows
At hide-and-seek they played.
The party closed at sundown,
And everybody stayed.

Professor Wind played louder,
They flew along the ground,
And then the party ended
In “hands across, all round.”

Black and white pen and ink illustration of a little girl in a dress and bonnet from about 1890. She is outside standing in front of a tree. She holds her skirts out in front of her to try to catch the leaves falling from the tree.
Catch the falling leaves!

In the last line of the poem, “hands across, all round” was a common phrase that would have been immediately recognizable to Isabella’s readers. It refers to a formation in traditional country dancing and square dancing that was very familiar in 1892.

Pen drawing of a group of 10 men and women dressed in clothing from about 1900 and dancing in a circle. behind them is a white two-story house and a red barn set against the red, orange and gold colors of trees. Around the dancers some falling leaves are carried on the wind that also lifts the women's skirts slightly..
“Hands across, all round!”

In this dance move, all the dancers form a large circle and join hands, often as the grand finale of a dance.

For those of us who love autumn, this charming poem reminds us the changing seasons have always felt magical, even 130 years ago! Perhaps the next time you watch leaves swirling in the autumn wind, you’ll think of this October poem and it’s gentle reminder that wonder is always there for those who know how to look for it.

September

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Isabella’s husband, the Rev. G. R. Alden, was a prolific poet, and many of his works were published in The Pansy magazine. He was adept at sharing humorous stories, childhood memories, and Biblical truths through rhyme. In the following poem he writes about anticipating the change of seasons in a long-ago, and much simpler time. 

The fields and meadows paling 
Lie ’neath the hazy sky;
The thistle-down is sailing
By zepyrs slowly by.
The stalks of stubble, bleaching
Beneath September’s sun,
Seem silently now teaching
Of rest when labor’s done.
Image of two yellow birds sitting in a bush of white and pink thistles. One bird plucks the tuft from one of the white thistles.
The goldenrod, bright gleaming 
Above the parched sod, 
Is surely sent, the seeming 
Of the golden things of God. 
The katy-dids are calling, 
In a social sort of way,  
To learn what is befalling 
The neighbor ’cross the way.
Communist like, the blackbirds 
Hold meetings every night, 
As though the world went backwards, 
And they must set it right. 
The apples fast are falling 
From heavy-laden boughs; 
The milkmaid’s faintly calling 
’Cross the meadows for the cows.
Image of a large apple tree with branches full of apples bent down to the ground.
The milking-stool is ready
Astride the barnyard gate;
The cows come slow and steady,
Like messengers of Fate.
And soon, in silence sleeping,
Master and maid and herd
Beneath God’s kindly keeping
Will rest—as on his word.
Image of some cows grazing in a flowering field while other cows stand in the shallow waters of a lake or pond. 
So may this mild September,
With its pictures passing fair,
Make each of us remember
God’s mercies, rich and rare.

Hello, Spring!

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In 1868 printmakers Currier and Ives published a set of illustrations titled, “The Four Seasons of Life.” And since today marks the first day of Spring, sharing the old-time prints seem like a fitting way to mark the change of season.

Spring: Childhood

Known as the “Printmakers to the American People,” Currier and Ives produced prints on a wide range of subjects: comics and reproductions of great paintings, illustrations of disasters and wrecks, scenes of farm and city life, and political lampoons.

Summer: Youth

When “The Four Seasons of Life” series was published, Isabella Alden was a married twenty-seven-year-old woman and a popular best-selling author of Christian fiction.

Autumn: Middle Age

It may have happened that Isabella had Currier and Ives’ prints in mind when she wrote Miss Dee Dunmore Bryant, a story that featured little Daisy Bryant who longed for colorful illustrations to adorn the bare walls of her “study.”

Winter: Old Age

For over fifty years Currier and Ives produced prints that documented almost every phase of life in America—a country that was rapidly growing from adolescence to maturity.

And for over sixty years Isabella Alden wrote inspiring stories about American men, women and children who chose Jesus as their savior, friend, and guide.