October
By Robert Frost
O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost—
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.
In this poem, the American-born poet Robert Frost (1874-1963) considers the state of nature on an October morning, asking that nature beguile him and his fellow humans into believing things are not hastily moving to a state of waste and ruin by slowing down the process of decay and demise that October brings, with the falling leaves and harsh winds. Frost uses October, the autumn season, and its natural beauty to portray his idea. He then suddenly changes to the winter season following it, to show the genuine fondness of the magnificence and that each moment should be experienced to the fullest.
Joe
The Closet Professor 
October 10th, 2023 at 6:16 am
Shades of Keats perhaps?
“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;”
Of course the vines will all have been picked by the autumn!
Here the temperature hit 26C on Sunday! Our true Indian summer.
The image is lovely btw.
October 10th, 2023 at 6:30 am
Definitely, I think there are shades of Keats. It has finally begun to cool off here. Our high temperature today is supposed to be 12C.
October 10th, 2023 at 6:54 am
A propos your excellent piece on eunuchs, I have read that in China the testicles removed were often stored in a preservation solution in a small bottle strung round round the neck so that on death, the man would still be religiously intact.
In Italy and other European parts treble choristers were often castrated before reaching puberty to retain their high pitched voices. The procedure was far less drastic. Either the spermatic cords were severed or the testis were crushed.
Many castrati became operatic superstars.
October 10th, 2023 at 8:08 pm
I got interested in eunuchs for a couple of reasons. There is a series of historical mystery novels set in Istanbul written by Jason Goodwin, whose main character Yashim is a eunuch. If you enjoy mysteries and history, I highly recommend this series. Also, there is a series of books about Ancient Egypt by Wilbur Smith that begins with the book River God whose main protagonist is a eunuch slave named Taita. Both series of books are fascinating and I read them a number of years ago.
Also, some progressive biblical scholars believe that when Jesus refers to eunuchs from birth (I can’t remember the whole sequence of words, so I may be a little off on this), that He is really speaking of men with no desire to be with women, i.e, gay men.
The history of eunuchs is both fascinating and terrifying. And yes, some eunuchs had their castrated parts, whether only their testicles or the testicles and penis, were preserved so they could be buried with them to make them whole in the afterlife.
October 11th, 2023 at 5:24 am
Many thanks indeed. I have not read those authors and will have ago once I have completed reading the growing pile of books by my bed.
If you have not read it, I thoroughly recommend David Lodge’s “How Far Can You Go?” (Penguin 1980) on the subject of growing up with Catholic moral guilt of pre-marital sex in the 1950s and 60s.
In China (and elsewhere) eunuchs could achieve considerable political influence in the royal courts.
Religious castration is still practiced in India. The eunuchs are highly regarded.
October 11th, 2023 at 5:38 am
In China and the Ottoman Empire, eunuchs had a lot of power and great influence over people and politics. The Ottomans used to require the Christians in the Balkans to pay a tax, but with young men, not money. They would them evaluate those men. Some would become part of the Ottoman’s elite and intensely loyal military unit called the Janissaries. Those not chosen for military duty were often castrated and trained for jobs in the government.
October 11th, 2023 at 5:54 am
As part of the Ottoman devşirme (the child levy system), male Christian children, aged 7 to 20, from Eastern, Southern and Southeastern Europe, and relocate them to Istanbul, where they were converted, circumcised (sometimes castrated), assimilated and trained to serve into the Janissary infantry corps or as palace bureaucrats.