John Greenleaf Whittier

Indian Summer

From The Eve of Election

From gold to gray

Our mild, sweet day

Of Indian summer fades too soon;

But tenderly

Above the sea

Hangs, white and calm, the hunter's moon.


In its pale fire

The village spire

Shows like the zodiac's spectral lance;

The painted walls

Whereon it falls

Transfigured stand in marble trance.