C
When the leaves begin to change their colours and the

birds head south, we know the season is starting to change.
On September 7 comes the White Dew, the 15th Solar
Term of the year. It indicates the beginning of the cool
autumn. As the temperature falls, white dew is often seen
on the grass and trees at night.
For
writers and poets, autumn is a difficult season to describe. It's the end of the
summer, and therefore a little sad. The days seem to get shorter, and when you wake in
the morning, there's mist and it's cooler. Winter is just around the corner.
American writer Ernest Hemingway wrote in his book A Moveable Feast, "You
expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the
trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintry light."
But on the other hand, autumn has its good side. There are so many changes at this
time of year, such as the colourful leaves and cooler nights. French writer Albert Camus
even thought, "Autumn was a second spring when every leaf is a flower." This view is
also found in the most famous autumn poem in English literature, To Autumn by John
Keats. In that poem, Keats says that autumn has its own songs, just like spring.
Another theme of this season is wisdom. The arrival of autumn is thought to be
similar to a person becoming mature.
The great Irish poet W. B. Yeats used this idea in his poem The Wild Swans at
Coole, writing about the changing seasons in Coole Park in the west of Ireland. Seeing
and counting 59 swans, he remembers first making the count as a young man. Seeing the
swans do the same thing for all those years, he's reminded that even though we get
older, our hearts always stay the same age.
词汇
White Dew 白露
indicate /'ɪndɪkeɪt/ v. 表明,标示,显示
mist /mɪst/ n. 薄雾,水汽
bare /beə(r)/ adj. (树木)光秃秃的;裸露的
mature /mə'tʃʊə(r)/ adj. 明白事理的,成熟的
理解
1. What did French writer Albert Camus think of autumn?
French writer Albert Camus even thought, “Autumn was a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
2. What do you think of autumn?
I think autumn is a harvest season. I like the yellow leaves, mature crops and smiling faces of the farmers.