George Eliot on Saying Buh-Bye to Summer
“If I were a bird, I would fly about the earth seeking successive autumns." - George Eliot
We have just cleared a one-week heat wave here in Bucks County, and with the hot, humid weather in the rear view mirror, I am officially declaring myself ready for autumn. Hot beverages, jackets, stews, cozy fires, and the gentle accumulation of leaves. Yes, I know we will likely suffer through another four weeks of on-and-off sweltering weather, but I’m an expert at season denial. I learned from the best; Nichole baked a pumpkin-spice coffee cake yesterday and, with just a few hours of moderate weather under our belt, is asking when we can make our first fire. Today will still be 81, but my younger son bravely donned a light sweater for school. We’re very proud.
Meanwhile, our older son is the luckiest of us all, as he has begun his freshman year of college. That’s the stuff right there. For me, autumn is synonymous with the promise of the new school year, and no new school year holds more promise than your first year of college. Where Keats saw in autumn a zenith and the foreshadowing of an end, George Eliot imagined an endless possibility of new beginnings.
Her view isn’t quite as pastoral or Romantic with a capital “R,” but I’ll admit I prefer Eliot’s framing. From the scholastic perspective, autumn is the exciting new beginning of life after the end of summer break. And, to the extent that they take off for a portion of the summer, this also holds true for the broader population. Some countries do this better than we do in the US, obviously; In France, for example, they celebrate “la rentrée,” literally “the return,” which revolves around the school year and the end of summer vacation. But it extends well beyond the scholastic calendar, as it is a time for politicians to lay out plans for the next 11 months, for media to shift its focus, for people to return to work, and for publishers to release a wave of new titles. A little birdie told me where George Eliot will be spending much of September. As for me, I would rather be seeking successive first semesters. But I’ll settle for coffee cake.
“Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love - that makes life and nature harmonise. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one's very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - Letter to Miss Lewis, Oct. 1, 1841
This illustration is available as a print, and is also included in our 2024 desk calendar, which is available for pre-order.