Autumn Fires Lyrics
Smoke trails up from the autumn bonfires in the gardens along the valley, the summer flowers are over, and the poem finds something bright in every season. Robert Louis Stevenson's Autumn Fires has three verses and twelve lines.
Autumn Fires
In the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!
Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The grey smoke towers.
Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/autumn-fires/
- Type
- Poems for Children
- Written by
- Robert Louis Stevenson
- Tune
- Read in a calm voice, and sing the last two lines if you like
- Best for ages
- 3 to 8 years
What Does Autumn Fires Mean?
The poem starts by looking out. In "the other gardens and all up the vale" there are autumn bonfires, and the child watches the smoke trail away. A vale is a valley. The second verse says the pleasant summer is over, the summer flowers are gone, the red fire blazes and the grey smoke towers, which means it rises up like a tower.
The third verse turns it into a song: "Sing a song of seasons! Something bright in all!" Every season has something to enjoy, and the poem names two of them, flowers in the summer and fires in the fall. Fall is another word for autumn, and it is the word that rhymes with all.
The mood is calm, almost a shrug of acceptance. The flowers are gone, but the fires have their own colour. It is a useful poem for the first cold days, when a child is sad about the summer ending.
Garden fires need care, and the poem keeps the child at a distance. All the smoke is in other gardens, up the valley.
History and Origin
Stevenson published Autumn Fires in his children's book of 1885.
Learning Activities
- Colours of the fire: paint a picture with red, orange and grey for the blaze and the smoke, and leave the summer green behind.
- Season verse: write one more line in the same pattern, such as "Snow in the winter" or "Rain in the spring", and finish the couplet.
- Safe distance: talk about why the smoke is in the other gardens, and why children stay well back from any fire.
- Autumn walk: collect leaves in three colours and sort them into the colours of the fire.