The Complete Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar/Nutting Song

by Paul Laurence Dunbar

NUTTING SONG

The November sun invites me,
And although the chill wind smites me,
I will wander to the woodland
   Where the laden trees await;
And with loud and joyful singing
I will set the forest ringing,
As if I were king of Autumn,
   And Dame Nature were my mate,—

While the squirrel in his gambols
Fearless round about me ambles,
As if he were bent on showing
   In my kingdom he'd a share;
While my warm blood leaps and dashes,
And my eye with freedom flashes,
As my soul drinks deep and deeper
   Of the magic in the air.

There's a pleasure found in nutting,
All life's cares and griefs outshutting,
That is fuller far and better
   Than what prouder sports impart.
Who could help a carol trilling
As he sees the baskets filling?
Why, the flow of song keeps running
   O'er the high walls of the heart.

So when I am home returning,
When the sun is lowly burning,
I will once more wake the echoes
   With a happy song of praise,—
For the golden sunlight blessing,
And the breezes' soft caressing,
And the precious boon of living
   In the sweet November days.