A blue and gold mistake

These are the days when birds come back,
A very few, a bird or two,
To take a backward look.

These are the days when skies put on
The old, old sophistries of June, --
A blue and gold mistake . . . .

Oh, sacrament of summer days,
Oh, last communion in the haze,
Permit a child to join,

Thy sacred emblems to partake,
Thy consecrated bread to break,
Taste thine immortal wine!

Whatever we might say about the upcoming warm days we are about to experience here in Amherst, Emily Dickinson said it better in this poem. And while the weather we are having does not qualify as the "Indian Summer"* Emily is describing here (at least, that's how we read this poem's meaning), this still seems like a perfect time to offer up this seasonal literary gem. For more such gems, and for local resources on Emily Dickinson, visit our popular "Emily's House" page.

* An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather (above 70 degrees F) occurring after a hard frost - in our area this would normally occur between late-September to mid-November. Since the temperature is not expected to go above the mid-60s, these next few days do not technically qualify as Indian Summer.