Friday 1 October 2021

Ode to

 

The golden-rod is yellow;

The corn is turning brown;

The trees in apple orchards

With fruit are bending down.


The gentian's bluest fringes

Are curling in the sun;

In dusty pods the milkweed

Its hidden silk has spun.

The sedges flaunt their harvest,

In every meadow nook; 

And Asters by the brook-side

Make asters in the brook. 

Helen Hunt Jackson 

Helen Hunt Jackson was an American poet and writer who became an activist on behalf of improved treatment of Native Americans by the United States government. She described the adverse effects of government actions in her history A Century of Dishonor.

32 comments:

  1. Hello Rosemary, I wish my autumn here could be as pleasant as yours is. Regarding the Native Americans, it is ironic that so many of the Europeans gave or retained Indian place names, then immediately drove those natives out.
    --Jim

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    1. Hello Jim - the way that indeginous people have been treated, and are still treated around much of the world is still a matter of collective shame.

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  2. A very appropriate contribution, Rosemary. Yesterday was the first national "Truth and Reconciliation Day" here in Canada. The treatment of First Nations people on this continent is a cause for great shame.

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  3. Wasn't it Marlon Brando's activism for the Native Americans which broke him?

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    1. I didn't realise that it broke him, but I do know that he was a great champion of both Native and Black Americans.

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  4. Thanks for beautiful Asters, and the poem to go with them! Have a great October!

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    1. Asters do appear to be one of the flowers that most signify this time of year.

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  5. Dearest Rosemary,
    Lovely autumn flowers and above all the apples.
    We don't have apples in our region, too warm for that.
    As for the indigenous people, we've adopted and supported our Liz... so that is a fair deal I guess!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Dear Mariette - sadly, I fear that the world will never be an equal place for everyone.

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  6. Farewell, September! See you again next year!

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    1. I could happily miss out all of those winter months - roll on Spring.

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  7. September is a beautiful month. As David has mentioned, yesterday was a national day here in Canada to remember and reflect upon the terrible treatment of First Nations peoples. I pray for healing for them, and for changed attitudes in society.

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    1. There are few positives that have come out of the Pandemic but the plight of both indegenous and black people is certainly much more to the forefront of society than it was.

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  8. I was also going to tell you about our 1st National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation. www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/national-day-truth-reconciliation. It is also Orange Shirt Day which is specifically in remembrance for the thousands of native children forcibly removed from their parents and sent to residential schools where many died from abuse, hunger and lack of care. Our small town of 13,000 invited people to walk from the traditional native land into the centre of town, the route was packed with a sea of orange. Inspirational and hopeful.

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    1. I tried to look at the two websites that you showed, but unfortunately neither of them would allow me access. As I mentioned to Lorrie - the plight of indegenous and black people is one of very few positives they have resulted during the Pandemic.

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  9. Always love blue flowers in a garden.
    We will never see that September again.

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  10. Nice verse. I read Dee Brown's 'Bury my heart at wounded knee' years ago and even when a group of native Americans were very close to the Canadian border, having chased them relentlessly across the USA when they only wanted to escape and find a new home they pulled out all the stops to capture them rather than let them disappear over the border. Thomas Mullen's Darktown, a more recent excellent book,set in the 1940s, shows just how much discrimination is still around and probably always will be.
    Grey and raining here past 7 days so a very dull wet end to September.

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    1. It is only now, during this Pandemic, that people are really beginning to realise just how many people in the world have been or are still being marginalised.

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  11. What a delightful poem and lovely photos to accompany it. Thank you.

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  12. A beautiful poem for a beautiful season. I have only seen appletrees on a few occasions, and it is a delight to enjoy. Last time we passed through Vancouver, I was quite thrilled to see a Native American Chieftain (I am making an assumption here) in beautiful robes, with feather headdress and lots of beads. He had attendants with him, and the most beautiful serene and visionary face. It was good to notice the Reconciliation Day in Canada this week - we also have Reconciliation Day in Australia.

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    1. I would have found it thrilling too Patricia to see a Native American Chieftain in his beautiful robes.
      If there is one good thing to come out of this Pandemic then perhaps it is the fact that more people now realise just how many people are treated completely differently from the rest of society.

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  13. I hope these are your apples, Rosemary? Looking delicious!

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    1. Yes, they are our apples Pip, and this year they are looking particularly good.

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  14. Thank you, Rosemary, of bringing Helen Hunt Jackson to my attention - I didn't know her.
    Your photographs are as always a treat! One wants to bite into that apple!

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    1. The apple was not quite ripe when I took the photo but now it is.

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