[00:00.44]Passage 96 A Word for Autumn

[00:05.64]Last night the waiter put the celery on with the cheese,

[00:09.81]and I knew that summer was indeed dead.

[00:13.96]Other signs of autumn there may be—the reddening leaf, the chill in the early-morning air,

[00:21.40]the misty evenings—but none of these comes home to me so truly.

[00:27.64]There may be cool mornings in July;

[00:30.92]in a year of drought the leaves may change before their time;

[00:35.41]it is only with the first celery that summer is over.

[00:40.44]I knew all along that it would not last.

[00:44.27]Even in April I was saying that winter would soon be here.

[00:49.30]Yet somehow it had begun to seem possible lately that a miracle might happen,

[00:56.74]that summer might drift on and on through the months

[01:01.34]—a final upheaval to crown a wonderful year.

[01:05.17]The celery settled that.

[01:07.61]Last night with the celery autumn came into its own.

[01:12.42]A week ago I grieved for the dying summer.

[01:16.14]I wondered how I could possibly bear the waiting—the eight long months till May.

[01:23.04]In vain to comfort myself with the thought that

[01:27.41]I could get through more work in the winter undistracted by thoughts of cricket grounds and country houses.

[01:35.18]In vain, equally, to tell myself that I could stay in bed later in the mornings.

[01:41.52]Even the thought of after-breakfast pipes in front of the fire left me cold.

[01:47.32]But now, suddenly, I am reconciled to autumn.

[01:52.14]I see quite clearly that all good things must come to an end.

[01:57.83]The summer has been splendid, but it has lasted long enough.

[02:03.41]This morning I welcomed the chill in the air;

[02:08.00]this morning I viewed the falling leaves with cheerfulness;

[02:12.93]and this morning I said to myself, “Why, of course, I’ll have celery for lunch.”

[02:20.15]There is a crispness about celery that is of the essence of October.

[02:25.84]It is as fresh and clean as a rainy day after a spell of heat.

[02:31.64]It crackles pleasantly in the mouth.

[02:34.48]Moreover it is excellent, I am told, for the complexion.

[02:39.29]One is always hearing of things which are good for the complexion,

[02:44.11]but there is no doubt that celery stands high on the list.

[02:49.14]After the burns and freckles of summer one is in need of something.

[02:54.50]How good that celery should be there at one’s elbow.