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That snap in the air can only mean one thing: it’s autumn, the perfect season for curling up with a poem—or eleven. We’ve gathered some favorite examples of verse about the season by beloved poets like Dylan Thomas, Rainer Maria Rilke, Robert Frost, Rita Dove, and more.

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Here are some gems from JSTOR’s digital library, available for free download:

Poem in October, by Dylan Thomas

Autumn Day, by Rainer Maria Rilke (trans. Edward Snow)

Appalachian Autumn, by Charles Wright 

Catching Leaves in the Autumn, by W. S. Merwin

Apollinaire, Autumn Ill, by Pierre Bourdieu (trans. John Speller)

Tour 5, by Robert Hayden

Solitary in September, by Gladys Swan

Weathering Out, by Rita Dove

The Auroras of Autumn, by Wallace Stevens

The Witch of Coos, by Robert Frost

Unending Autumn Light, by Birendrajit Naorem (trans. Robin S. Ngangom)

More poetry available for free PDF download:
Winter Poems
Summertime Poems
Flower Poems
Love Poems
Nature Poems
Travel Poems

poems and poetrywritersAgniIndian LiteratureParagraphPoetryThe American ScholarThe Kenyon ReviewThe Phylon QuarterlyThe Sewanee ReviewThe Threepenny Review

Resources

JSTOR is a digital library for scholars, researchers, and students. JSTOR Daily readers can access the original research behind our articles for free on JSTOR.

Poem in October
By: Dylan Thomas
Poetry, Vol. 65, No. 5 (Feb., 1945), pp. 257-259
Poetry Foundation
Autumn Day
By: Rainer Maria Rilke and Edward Snow
The Threepenny Review, No. 27 (Autumn, 1986), p. 11
Threepenny Review
Appalachian Autumn
By: CHARLES WRIGHT
The American Scholar, Vol. 74, No. 4 (Autumn 2005), pp. 75-83
The Phi Beta Kappa Society
Catching Leaves in the Autumn [Poem]
By: W. S. Merwin
The Sewanee Review, Vol. 62, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1954), pp. 451-453
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Apollinaire, Autumn Ill
By: Pierre Bourdieu and John Speller
Paragraph, Vol. 35, No. 1, Bourdieu and the Literary Field (March 2012), pp. 131-136
Edinburgh University Press
Tour 5
By: Robert Hayden
The Phylon Quarterly, Vol. 19, No. 3 (3rd Qtr., 1958), p. 296
Clark Atlanta University
Solitary in September [Poem]
By: Gladys Swan
The Sewanee Review, Vol. 112, No. 3 (Summer, 2004), p. 356
The Johns Hopkins University Press
Weathering Out
By: RITA DOVE
Agni, No. 56, 30th Anniversary Poetry Anthology (2002), pp. 111-112
Agni
The Auroras of Autumn
By: Wallace Stevens
The Kenyon Review, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Winter, 1948), pp. 1-10
Kenyon College
The Witch of Coos
By: Robert Frost
Poetry, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Jan., 1922), pp. 175-181
Poetry Foundation
UNENDING AUTUMN NIGHT
By: Birendrajit Naorem and Robin S. Ngangom
Indian Literature, Vol. 40, No. 3 (179), ACCENT ON MANIPURI POETRY (May - June 1997), p. 28
Sahitya Akademi