When the Frost is on the Punkin
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodderâs in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttinâ turkey-cock,
And the clackinâ of the guineys, and the cluckinâ of the hens,
And the roosterâs hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;
O, itâs thenâs the times a feller is a-feelinâ at his best,
With the risinâ sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodderâs in the shock.
Theyâs something kindoâ harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summerâs over and the coolinâ fall is hereâ
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees,
And the mumble of the humminâ-birds and buzzinâ of the bees;
But the airâs so appetizinâ; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a picturâ that no painter has the colorinâ to mockâ
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodderâs in the shock.
The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,
And the raspinâ of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn;
The stubble in the furriesâkindoâ lonesome-like, but still
A-preachinâ sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill;
The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;
The hosses in theyr stalls belowâthe clover over-head!â
O, it sets my hart a-clickinâ like the tickinâ of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodderâs in the shock!
Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps
Is poured around the celler-floor in red and yeller heaps;
And your cider-makinâ âs over, and your wimmern-folks is through
With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and saussage, too! ...
I donât know how to tell itâbut ef sich a thing could be
As the Angels wantinâ boardinâ, and theyâd call around on
meâ
Iâd want to âcommodate âemâall the whole-indurinâ flockâ
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodderâs in the shock!
James Whitcomb Riley
(ok - mehbe mo' Octoberish 'n ta nawth'rn pahts)