Aut

umn BYT.E.HULME

At
ouchofcol
dint
heAut
umnni
ght
—

Iwal
kedabr
oad,

Andsawt
her
uddymoonl
eanov
erahedge

Li
kear
ed-
facedf
armer
.

Idi
dnotst
opt
ospeak,
butnodded,

Andr
oundaboutwer
ethewi
stf
ulst
ars

Wi
thwhi
tef
acesl
i
ket
ownchi
l
dren.

T.E.Hul
me

ThomasErnestHulme(/
hjuː
m/;16September1883–28September1917)wasanEngl i
shcri
ti
c
andpoetwho,thr
oughhi
swr i
ti
ngsonart,
li
ter
atur
eandpoli
ti
cs,hadanotabl
einf
luenceupon
moderni
sm.[
1]Hewasanaest het
icphi
l
osopherandthe'
fat
herofimagi
sm'.

Summar
y

Insummar y,t
hepoeti stakingawal koneautumnnight–‘abroad’suggestingt
hathehas
steppedoutsi
deoft hetownorci tyandcrossedint
othecountrysi
de–whenhespi esthemoon,
l
itwithareddishglowthankst othesunset,andisputi
nmi ndoftheredf aceofafar
mer .But
thereisnot
hinggrandlytranscendentaboutthi
sencounter
:thepoet

TEHul memerelynods,alsoobservi
ngthatt
hestarsint
heskyar eli
kethewhitefacesof
chi
ldren.(
Theyare‘t
ownchi l
dren’pr
esumablybecausethesmoganddi rtandgeneralgr
imness
ofurbanli
femakestheirwhitefacesst
andoutamongt heirsur
roundi
ngs,muchast hestar
s
shi
neoutagainstthedarkeni
ngev eni
ngsky.
)

Whatisparticul
arlystri
kingaboutthecent r
alsimilein‘Aut
umn’ i
sthefactthatitappearsodd
butisbackedupbyl ogic,t
houghthislogicisneitherri
gidl
yenfor
cednorexpl i
citl
ystated.
Likeni
ngthemoont ot heredfaceofaf armerdoesappearst r
ange,butwhenwer ecal
l t
hatthi
s
sceneistaki
ngpl aceint heautumn, andthattheaut umnmooni salsoknownast hehar v
est
moon, andfarmersbr i
ngi nthehar
v est,weseet hatthechainofconnecti
onsmoon- f
armer -
autumn-harvestunit
est omakesenseoft heanal ogy.

Theremayalso,t
hough,beatouchofaut
obi
ogr
aphyi
ntheimageoft
he‘r
ed-f
acedfar
mer
’,
si
nceT.E.Hulmeapparentl
yhadaruddycompl
exi
onandhail
edfr
om t
herur
alNort
h
Staf
for
dshi
rearea.

Theme. .
..
..
..Thecentralt
hemeofthepoem Ibel
ievetobebeaut
y.Aut
umnisoneoft
hemost
beaut
if
ult
imesoft
hey earandonewhichi
susuall
yf i
l
ledwit
hmanychangesandvi
vi
dcolor
s.
Hulme’ sdescript
ionofacri
sp,autumnnightwit
habright
,lar
gemoonconj uresupf eel
i
ngsof
nostalgiaf
ort hereader
.Anyonewhohasexper i
encedthefal
lcancer
tai
nlyappreciatethe
beautyitbrings.Heusesthemoonast hei
magewi t
hwhichhedescri
best hekindofbeaut yhe
wit
nesses.Hei slooki
ngatbeautyashegazesupwardatthemoonandi sdescr i
bingitsl
ightas
i
treflectsthetownspeopleandthegreeneryt
hatsurr
oundshim.

"Atouchofcoldint heAutumnni ght -

"isthefi
rstt
houghtofthepoem, andi tsnotevena
completesentence.We'regivenani mage,asensation,
anditisfoll
owedt henbyaction,
mov ement,walki
ng.Themoon, ruddy"li
keared-f
acedf ar
mer"isleaningov erthehedge.Anod
toacknowledgeit,noneedt o"speak. "Speaki
ngher ewouldmean, Ithink,att
ri
buti
ngsomesort
ofmor alqual
i
tyofl ar
gersigni
ficancet othemooni nthescene.Instead, Hulmenods,
acknowledgesitsbeauty,
andcont inueson.

Hegi vesthest arsabitmor echar acter,call

ingthem " wistf
ul."Theirfacesar ewhi t
eandshi ning,
l
ikethoseofchi l
dren.Ist hi
sagoodt hing, abadt hing?Doesi tmakeHul met hinkofpeace, of
youthfulvi
v acit
y,ofsadness?Whocansay ?Rat her ,
hepr esent suswi t
hthei mage, andl et
sus
feel
aswemayabouti t
.What '
scertainist hattheimagei sev ocati
veandbeaut i
ful
.Forapoem
tobringtomi ndsuchcl earandv ivi
dimagesi nsuchaf ewl inesisar ealt
riumphoft hepowerof
suggestion, anditmakesabr eakf r
om theof t
enti
mesov erblownsent i
ment ali
tyandr hapsodi c
humanper sonifi
cati
onandr everenceofNat urepresenti nRomant i
cpoet r
y .Ireall
yappr eci
at e
theclari
tyofsuggest ionatwor ki nImagi stpoetry,andHul mei soneofi t
sgr eatarchitects,
sadl
yl osttousi nhisy outh,i
nt hewari n1917.